Apple today highlighted the continued growth and expansion of its own services in 2021, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Maps, Apple Pay, Apple News, Apple Podcasts, Apple Fitness+, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and more.
For Apple, revenue from services like the App Store and iCloud is just as important as sales of iPhones and Macs. Today, Apple is providing a status update on service milestones for Apple Pay, TV+, Fitness+ and more. Apple's services boss Eddy Cue had this to say:
Apple's world-class portfolio of services has proven indispensable in 2021 as people around the world seek new ways to entertain, educate, connect, and inspire. Apple now has 745 million active paid subscriptions to its services, including in-app subscriptions through the App Store.
Apple announces new features
The company lists a few very interesting details:
- Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned more than $260 billion from the sale of digital goods and services, setting a new record for annual revenue, up from over $200 billion a year ago.
- Between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve 2021, App Store customers spent more than ever before, seeing double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. Apple did not disclose a specific dollar amount.
- Customers purchased 30 million digital tickets for sports games, concerts and other events in the U.S. and Canada in the Wallet app in 2021.
- Apple TV+ has received 763 nominations and 190 awards since its launch.
Apple also announced new features later:
- Apple Music plans to launch its own classical music app later this year, following its acquisition of classical music service Primephonic last year.
- 3D Apple Maps will be available in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver later this year.
- iPhone and Apple Watch users in participating U.S. states will be able to add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app later this year. According to Apple's website, the feature will be available in early 2022.
If you would like to see the full press release, you can find it here. (Image: Apple)
