Amid a broader shift to services, Apple is reportedly
open to the idea of bundling News+, Apple TV+ and Apple Music.
Sources tellBloomberg the move could occur as early as next year. They point to an existing provision in Apple’s agreements with publishers that allows the company to bundle News+ with other paid
services.
For Apple, the report comes amid slumping iPhone sales and an increasing focus on services and wearables.
During Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter, revenue from iPhone sales amounted to
about $33 billion, which represented a 9% decline, year-over-year. Partly making up for the loss, Apple CEO Tim Cook credited growth in services and wearable sales (up 54% year-over-year) for driving
revenue during the period.
The company just recently debuted Apple TV+ -- a subscription-based video-on-demand Web television service -- while it launched Apple News+ in March.
In
part, bundling Apple News+ with other services might be a response to Facebook’s recent reentry in the
news business. Still in its test phase, the just-launched Facebook News is serving as a destination for partner publishers, including The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed and USA
Today.
Adding to Apple’s success with services, eMarketer pointed out that Apple Pay is growing faster than expected.
Now the clear market leader, Apple’s app was used
by more than 27.7 million U.S. consumers last year, per eMarketer, which says that figure will increase to 30.3 million U.S. consumers this year.
If accurate, Apple Pay would represent a whopping
47.3% of proximity mobile payment users in the United States.