Apple's services category, which includes iTunes, the App Store, the Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and AppleCare is an increasingly important revenue driver for Apple amid stagnating iPhone sales, and services growth is once again hitting an all time high.

During the first fiscal quarter of 2019, Apple's services segment brought in $10.9 billion in revenue, up from the $9.1 billion services earned in the first quarter of 2018.

appleservices
In all five of its geographic regions, including China, Apple saw new December quarter revenues record for the services category.

Apple hit a December quarter record for ‌AppleCare‌, and nearly 16 years after launching iTunes Store, it saw its highest quarterly revenue ever thanks to ‌Apple Music‌. The ‌App Store‌ also saw record results propelled by record sales on Christmas and New Years.

Over 1.8 billion ‌Apple Pay‌ transactions were made during the quarter, 2x more than the previous quarter, and Apple News set a new record with more than 85M monthly active users.

Apple has more than 360 million paid subscribers across its services, an increase of 120 million compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the company expects the total number of paid subscribers to surpass half a billion in 2020.

Apple is aiming to reach $14 billion in services revenue per quarter by 2020, and it is well on its way towards reaching that goal.

Apple is working on bolstering its services category in 2019, breaking into the television industry. Apple is has more than two dozen original television shows in the works right now, which will be distributed through a TV streaming service set to debut early in 2019.

An Apple News subscription service is also in the works and could come out around the same time, with Apple planning to offer access to magazines for a monthly fee, and there have been rumors Apple is considering a gaming subscription service as well.

Top Rated Comments

martyjmclean Avatar
67 months ago
Let’s hope Apple doesn’t see this growth as “Services are perfect the way they are”. iCloud needs some serious catching up to Google Drive, the Stores backend needs rebuilding, Apple Music needs Spotify level algorithms and playlists, and not to mention Apple Pay Cash etc needs to be available outside the US.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
67 months ago
To me, this is where the ‘real’ growth is. Services is a major contributor to Apple, with Apple Music, Apple Pay expanding continuously, iCloud services, and of course the App Store, etc. Obviously hardware is Apple’s focus, but services is on the rise for a very good reason, and has been the trend with their past few earning calls.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laz232 Avatar
67 months ago
So it’s not the end of the world for Apple? So much gloom and doom lately lol
The point is that I don't care if a company with the name "Apple" exists* - I want that company to create tools (real computers - in my case laptops), that enable me to do my work (and play) in an as effective and enjoyable way as possible.
Music subscriptions and lame TV shows are not that company, nor are expensive phone, or watches or watch bands.

I think that is the reason that a lot of people are upset - we don't care if Apple makes a trillion dollars, if they are not creating the computers that got them to where they are in the first place - we would rather have a really good $100M company than a $100B behemoth that just markets crap to the masses.

*after all, the name IBM is still around too - they are no longer relevant for most people
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
d0nK Avatar
67 months ago
Balls to services.
I need a new mbp without the incredibly crap butterfly keyboard attached to it.
Chop, chop Apple.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pika2000 Avatar
67 months ago
And thus Apple need to do something more. I mean iCloud has not offered anything new or refreshing for a while. iWorks on iCloud don’t get mentioned in keynotes anymore. Instead, Apple is chasing Netflix, a model where there are actually a lot of capital involved (getting rights to the various movies and shows are not cheap). Why not beef up iCloud first to the point that Apple user won’t be interested in Office 365 at all.
[doublepost=1548827842][/doublepost]
Think about it.

Apple Services in 2019 is worth more than the entire Apple company in 2009. This is before Apple even launches the TV service and Apple New subscription, both coming this year. Apple is branching into health, a trillion dollar market and ApplePay is spreading, financial services is also a trillion dollar market. Meanwhile, Apple Watch is growing exponentially, AirPods own 80% of the entire wireless earphone market and AR Glasses are launching next year.

Apple will be fine.
But I want my $500 Mac Pro, iPad with mouse running Windows, and $200 iPhone XIII. So Apple is doomed, doomed I tell ya.
/s
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Scottsoapbox Avatar
67 months ago
I wonder how much of this is Verizon paying for free Apple music for "unlimited" customers. #AccountingCanBeCreative
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...