Apple’s recent focus on services appears to be paying off after the company hailed a “historic 2019” for the division and revealed that the App Store delivered a single-day revenue record of $386m on the first day of 2020.
With consumers holding on to iPhones and iPads for longer than ever, Apple is hoping that services can pick up the slack in the coming years.
It has been investing heavily in the division, with the recent launch of Apple TV+ coming hot on the heels of Apple Music and Apple News and a daily curated App Store.
The festive period was particularly fruitful as customers on the App Store spent a considerable $1.42bn during the seven days from Christmas Eve through to New Year’s Eve, a 16% spike year over year.
Apple also started the new decade with a bang as spending levels soared 20% to $386m on 1st January, which is a new record for one day.
“2019 was the biggest year for Services in Apple’s history. We introduced several exciting new experiences for our customers, all while setting the standard for user privacy and security,” Apple’s senior VP Eddy Cue said in a statement.
Cue confirmed that Apple would continue to champion the work of the “world’s best” creators, developers and storytellers during the next year.
That means more new shows on Apple TV+, which recently “made history” with a slew of Golden Globe nominations in its launch year.
Apple Music also remains a strong revenue lever, with 50% of subscribers now using the new lyrics feature to sing along to their favourite tracks.
Apple also revealed that there are now more than 800,000 shows on its Podcasts app and 100 million monthly active users on Apple News across several countries, including the UK and the US.
The services segment delivered $12.5bn revenues during Q4 of 2019 according to Apple’s latest earnings call.