A customer leaves after picking up Apple’s new 5G iPhone 12 that went on sale as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, at an Apple Store in Brooklyn, New York, Oct. 23, 2020.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Apple’s App Store customers spent a record $ 540 million on New Year’s Day alone, up 40% from last year, the company said in its annual service report on Wednesday.
Additionally, Apple announced that it generated $ 1.8 billion in sales of digital goods on the App Store in the week between Christmas Eve and now has 90 million monthly active users for its Apple Books app.
But the report did not provide subscriber updates for its line of newer subscription products such as Apple TV + (video streaming), Apple Music, and Apple Fitness + (a competitor to Peloton). In the fall, Apple began bundling many of its subscription services together as part of its Apple One program. The Services category is an important growth area that Apple has focused on in recent years, as hardware sales growth has slowed.
Apple’s App Store update also comes as tensions continue to increase over Apple’s control over App Store policies. Several app developers, most notably Facebook and Fortnite creator Epic Games, have publicly criticized Apple for getting 30% less App Store sales from developers and for enforcing a new policy designed to disclose which apps track your data for targeted advertising. Apple recently changed its policy to take a 15% discount on businesses that generate less than $ 1 million in App Store sales, which the company said was a step towards helping small businesses.
Overall, Apple’s Services generated revenue of $ 53.8 billion in the company’s last fiscal year, which ended in September 2021. Apple is expected to release its fiscal results for the first quarter in a few weeks.
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