Apple is allegedly paying more for its same-day-as-DVD iTunes movies than it charges customers for the downloads, indicating that the company views the movies as a loss leader to help sell other products. The ever-popular “person familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal (subscription) that Apple pays the movie studios a wholesale price of $16 per movie while only charging customers $14.99 for new releases. The $1.01 loss on each movie sale is sure to add up, but Apple is apparently confident that such an agreement will pay off in the long run.

Gadgets—namely the Apple TV—are the bigger reason as to why Apple might choose to sell movies as a loss leader. Now that version 2.0 of the Apple TV allows users to buy and rent content directly from the device, it’s the perfect solution for people who just want to plop down on the couch (or catch a flight) and watch something that was just released today—no driving around town and dealing with parking/weather/screaming kids at Wal-Mart required. If the deal drives more customers to buy Apple TVs or other hardware in addition to more content from iTunes overall, then a $1.01 loss on each movie purchase is easily made up several times over.