Apple's services category, which includes iTunes, the App Store, the Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, and more, has become an important revenue driver for Apple amid stagnating iPhone sales, leading Apple to focus more effort on its services category.
In the third fiscal quarter of 2019, Apple's services segment brought in $11.46 billion, up from $10.17 billion in the year-ago quarter and $11.45 billion in the second quarter of 2019.
Apple set new all-time records for AppleCare, Apple Music, App Store search ads, and more, along with a new third-quarter revenue record for the App Store. Apple saw double digit services revenue in all five geographical segments.
Apple surpassed 420 million paid subscribers in the third quarter, and Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is well on its way to reaching its goal of reaching $14 billion in services revenue per quarter by 2020.
Apple Pay is now in 47 markets and in the June quarter, started adding more new users than PayPal and monthly transaction volume is growing 4x as fast. Apple is starting to roll out NYC transit support for Apple Pay in the United States, and Chicago will follow later this year.
Apple in March announced new services that will continue to boost services revenue in the future. Apple News+, a $9.99 per month service that provides unlimited access to more than 200 magazines, has already launched, and later this year Apple is introducing Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and a new Apple Card credit card.
Top Rated Comments
Apple has always produced the entire user experience or as Steve Jobs used to say “we make the whole widget”.
When Apple started off, that was hardware and software but these days, we use our devices for a lot more than just applications. We use them primarily for services. Apple produces those services as a part of “the whole widget”. That includes TV since a significant part of our time these days is spent watching videos on our devices.
I have high hopes for AppleTV+ and AppleArcade. I also think that Apple is on the right track with AppleNews+, pending adjustments that need to be made like early AppleMusic.
That’s more than eBay ($10.74B), Salesforce ($13.28B), PayPal ($15.45B) and Netflix ($15.79B) combined...
Not to mention, going for fully sealed laptop designs have no doubt helped to boost AppleCare sales as customers have even less confidence of fixing a broken laptop from elsewhere.
At these prices, AppleCare should have been included in the price of these machines but I don't have much hopes for the conniving Apple of today. Like everything in the US, the balance is heavily tilted in favour of shareholders and corporate weasels rather than the customers.