iCloud+ is Apple’s most successful service by a wide margin, according to an analysts’ report released Monday. Seems plenty of iPhone and Mac users are willing to pay for more than the 5GB of free storage available.
Adoption rates for the Mac-maker’s other services might surprise some people: A third of all Apple users subscribe to Apple TV+, for example.
iCloud+ storage reigns as king of Apple services
Apple is primarily a hardware company, pulling in most of its revenue from selling computers in various shapes and sizes. But its services category brought in 22% of revenue in fiscal 2023. Much of that comes from the App Store, but Apple offers a range of other services for its users, too.
iCloud+ ranks as the most popular Apple service. “An unexpected albeit low-priced service, paid iCloud storage, continues to capture the greatest share of Apple customers,” wrote Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz, analysts at CIRP.
When an iPhone or Mac user’s needs pass the 5GB of free storage, Apple offers paid iCloud+ plans ranging from 50GB (99 cents per month) all the way up to 12TB ($59.99 per month). And beyond storage, iCloud+ includes services that make accessing the web and using email more secure. The list includes Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domains and HomeKit Secure Video.
The combination proves appealing enough that 64% of the U.S. Apple customer base pays for it, according to CIRP.
Adoption rates for other Apple services
The second most popular service with U.S. Apple users is Apple Music with a 42% adoption rate. This streaming music service starts at $10.99 per month.
Apple Podcasts draw in 37% of users, again according to CIRP. Unlike the other items on this list, using this generally doesn’t cost anything.
Apple TV+ gets watched by 32% of U.S. Apple users. Other analysts previously noted that Apple’s streaming video service continues attracting new subscribers. It costs $9.99 per month.
Adoption of paid AppleCare+ insurance plans varies by the type of device. CIRP reports 35% of iPad users pay for Apple’s expanded device repair insurance, while only 17% of iPhone users do.
“We expect it disappoints Apple that AppleCare continues to achieve a much lower share of customers,” said Levin and Lowitz.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
