What’s Happening:
Apple’s first-quarter 2019 earnings call revealed strong growth for the company, with its monthly active Apple news user rate hitting 85 million. The roll-out of Apple News to more countries will help drive growth, and the relaunch of its Texture acquisition as a paid news subscription service is set to hit as early as spring.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook shared additional updates on growth in Apple Pay, Apple Music and more. The new record of $10.9 billion in revenue represents a 19% services growth year-over-year. For the first time, Apple chose not to break down its revenue by iPhone, iPad and Mac categories.
What it Means:
Of the earnings call, Cook said, “That’s a great testament to the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers, and it’s driving our Services business to new records thanks to our large and fast-growing ecosystem.”
Digging Deeper:
- Apply Pay reported 1.8 billion in transactions during 2018, which was up 100% YOY. Apple Pay is expanding with new ads, partnerships and promotional deals, to name a few.
- Apple Music has reached 50 million paid subscribers, representing a growth of approximately 10 million in six months.
- Apple News is expanding to Canada, following its initial launch countries of the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
- In 2018, Apple had 1.3 billion active devices; this latest update showed a growth of 100 million, for a total 40% growth in active devices since hitting the one billion mark in 2016.
The Bottom Line:
Apple forecasts revenue between $55 billion and $59 billion over the next quarter — one in which it will be up against a $61.1 billion revenue compare year over year and $52.9 billion two years ago.