A customer comes out after picking up Apple’s new iPhone 5G that went on sale as the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues at an Apple store in Brooklyn, New York, on the 23rd. October 2020.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Apple’s App Store customers spent a record $ 540 million on New Year’s Day alone, up 40 percent from last year, the company said Wednesday in its annual service report.
In addition, Apple announced that it generated $ 1.8 billion in digital product sales in the App Store last week on Christmas Eve and now has 90 million monthly active users for its Apple Books app. .
But the report did not provide updates on subscribers to its latest set of 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 as part of its Apple One program. The service category is a key area of growth 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 rise over Apple’s control over its App Store policies. Several app developers, most notably Facebook and Fortnite maker Epic Games, have publicly criticized Apple for receiving 30% of App Store sales from developers and for implementing a new policy designed to reveal which apps to track. of your data for specific advertising. Apple recently modified its policies to reduce companies that generate less than $ 1 million in App Store sales by 15%, which the company said was a move to help 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 report its first-quarter tax gains in a few weeks.
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