Roger Fingas
Despite posting year-over-year drops in Mac and iPhone revenue, and flat iPad numbers, there was one bright spot in Apple's September-quarter sales results: a 24 percent increase from services.
Revenue in that segment grew from $5.086 billion in Q4 2015 to $6.325 billion, Apple said in unaudited data (PDF). Apple didn't break down the figures, but the category includes all of its internet platforms — such as iTunes, Apple Music, and the App Store — plus Apple Pay transaction fees and more.
Apple Music and the App Store likely accounted for much of this growth. In the company's Q4 conference call, Apple said that App Store growth hit 43 percent. Outside estimates suggest that China alone generated $1.7 billion in iOS App Store revenue.
During the call CEO Tim Cook also cited Apple Music as a driver. He likewise mentioned Apple Pay, noting that transaction volumes were up almost 500 percent year-over-year, and that the month of September alone was busier than the entirety of fiscal 2015.
Subscriptions to Apple Music have been steadily climbing since the service's June 2015 debut, hitting 17 million at last check. Apple could reveal higher numbers at its Oct. 27 press event.
Christine McKee
Stephen Silver
Charles Martin
Amber Neely
9 Comments
I know I've been using Apple Pay a lot more ever since my physical card got the chip. The chip is crazy slow, slower than swiping was. It finally motivated me to change my habits and pull out my phone to pay instead.
All the growth in services can be attributed to Pokémon Go. ;)
To hell with Pokemon Go. What a glorious waste of time!
I like Apple Music and Apple Pay very much. I think the iOS 10 UI is very good now, and it's easy to make playlists.
And gradually more of the stores we shop at are accepting Apple Pay, which is especially convenient in conjunction with my Apple Watch. The main remaining barrier for me is lack of support from PayPal through which we do most of our billing. We use our PayPal debit card for 80% of our purchases, so it would be great if PayPal would suck it up and play nice with Apple Pay.
Where's Rogifan calling for Cue's resignation...