Highlights:
- Apple to soon launch Apple One subscription to offer several of its services as a combo to its users
- The services could include Apple Music, Apple TV+ and iCloud Storage
- Apple is going to take direct competition with Amazon Prime subscription
US based tech giant Apple Inc. has unveiled a series of subscription bundles which has been a long awaited feature from Apple, something that leading financial agencies think will help Apple grow its service revenues even further.
On Tuesday, at an online event, Apple said that it is going to launch Apple One subscriptions which will combine many of their services including Apple Music, Apple TV+ and iCloud storage at a comparatively lower price than the users would have to pay if they were to buy each service separately.
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The bundles will start from $ 14.95 a month for a tier which will include Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and 50 GB of iCloud storage. This lower tier will also have a $ 19.95 version for family sharing.
A Premier tier will cost $ 29.95, which will add Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and increase iCloud Storage to 2 TB.
It was told that these subscriptions are geared toward families, which means that they will work with Apple’s Family Sharing system that provides access to as many as six people for each service.
Compared to the cost when the services would be bought individually, the Apple One individual plan offers a savings of over $ 6 while the Family plans saves more than $ 8 each month, the company said in a statement.
The Premier plan, on the other hand, saves over $25 a month, based on standard monthly pricing, Apple added.
This announcement was a part of the company’s annual Fall product blitz. In 2020 it included all new Apple Watches along with an upgraded iPad Air. Later this year, Apple is expected to unveil several new 5G capable iPhones.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities wrote, “While the focus for the Street remains the iPhone 12 5G supercycle set to kick off in early October, the launch of the next generation Apple Watch, iPad Air, and services bundle are key ingredients in Cupertino’s recipe for success heading into FY21 and beyond,” in a note to investors.
He added that “For the services bundle, we view that as a smart strategic move to further monetize its golden installed base,” while estimating that these could lift services revenue 5% to 7% annually for Apple.
This subscription initiative from Apple is a crucial bid to achieve the same loyalty which Amazon.com Inc. enjoys with its Prime membership, which combines free shipping with video streaming, Amazon Music and many others services for a fee which can be paid monthly or annually.
This bundle is the bedrock of Amazon’s success and has been mimicked by other companies before with mixed results.
Though Apple does not enjoy a large e-commerce delivery or a warehouse network like Amazon, however, it has hundreds of millions of enthusiastic hardware customers who have already embraced some of its digital subscriptions.
Unlike Amazon Prime Membership, Apple is offering several variations at different prices. The subscription offerings will also include access to the Apple Arcade gaming service and Apple News+.
Spotify Technology SA, which also offers a streaming service which competes with Apple Music and even AmazonMusic, said that the tech giant was unfairly “favouring its own services.” This echoed complaints Spotify has filed with European antitrust regulators.
Apple Music smoothly integrates with Apple Watches which offers some features which are not available when people use Spotify with the device.
A spokesperson from Spotify wrote, “We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behaviour, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect,” in a statement.
Apple has also announced a new online workout service which it is calling Apple Fitness+, this service will offer video classes to users for workouts. This will integrate with the Fitness application on the iPhone and the Apple TV and requires an Apple Watch.
This service will compete with Peloton Interactive Inc., which sells subscriptions of its fitness service which run in apps as well as on its workout equipment.
“For years, analysts and investors have called for Apple to mimic Amazon’s Prime approach. Some of Apple’s newer services, including News+ and TV+, have started slowly. By bundling them at a discount with more popular services, usage and subscriptions could increase.” Apple’s service segment is one of the fastest growing areas for the company and has already become a $ 50 billion-a-year business. While services like the ones for advertising and Apple care were down in the recent quarter owing to the global pandemic, the digital offerings such as App Store, iCloud, and video products of Apple did set new records.
