Services - page 2

Apple’s greedy terms for new service reportedly spook publishers

By

Apple News
Apple wants a giant piece of publishers’ action
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly taking a hard line with publishers during its negotiations for a proposed news subscription service.

Aiming to become the “Netflix of news,” Apple’s as-yet-unannounced service would give customers unlimited access to articles from popular publishers for just $10 per month. However, news organizations are reportedly balking at Apple’s proposed revenue split, which sounds downright greedy.

Apple reclaims crown as most valuable public company

By

Tim Cook earnings apple
Tim Cook likes his currency the old-fashioned way.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is back to being the world’s most valuable publicly traded company once again.

The company’s stock price has been rising steadily since Apple revealed its first earnings of 2019 last month. Worried investors ditched the stock at the beginning of the year due to slumping iPhone sales, but it just passed Amazon and Microsoft today, putting Apple back on top.

Morgan Stanley thinks Services will help Apple hit $1 trillion again

By

money
Services are a growing focus for Apple.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple shares have rebounded some from the company’s holiday season slump, but its $787.6 billion market cap has a way to go before it’s back at the $1 trillion level it hit last summer.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have a suggestion for turning things around, however. They think that Apple’s Services division could see Apple once again take its place in the exclusive trillionaires club.

Enjoy Apple Music on American Airlines without buying Wi-Fi

By

Apple Music on American Airlines
Forget downloading your playlists before takeoff.
Photo: Apple

Starting Friday, Apple Music subscribers can enjoy the service on domestic flights with American Airlines without purchasing Wi-Fi.

Complete access to the service and its more than 50 million songs will be available on flights equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to offer the service.

Everything you need to know about Apple’s disappointing holiday quarter

By

Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Tim Cook sounded confident about Apple’s future when he got on today’s Q1 2019 earnings call with investors this afternoon. Despite slumping iPhone sales and declining revenues, Cook told investors that his company is being managed for the long-haul instead of short-term gains.

Wall Street is already responding positively to Apple’s earnings report with shares trading up in after-hours trading. The company has 1.4 billion active Apple devices in the world, positioning Apple to continue raking in money as no other company can. However, today’s call revealed some new challenges Apple faces going forward.

iPhone sales slump, but Apple’s in it ‘for the long term’

By

quotes on Apple
Tim Cook is the CEO of getting a bag.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

Apple unveiled its earnings for Q1 2019 this afternoon and as expected, total revenue came in a lot lower than Apple originally predicted at the end of last year, with iPhone sales dropping 15%.

Thanks mostly to slumping sales in Greater China, Apple posted $84.3 billion in revenue, marking a drop from the $88.3 billion the company pulled in during the same quarter a year ago. Even though iPhone sales are struggling, Apple’s services are bringing in more money than expected, giving investors some good news.

Why this week’s Apple earnings report is the most important in years

By

Earnings call
Apple's Q1 2020 earnings report will probably break some records.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

When Apple unveils its earnings report for last year’s crucial holiday quarter, the entire world will be watching for signs of the company’s long-rumored impending doom.

Several factors will make Tuesday’s Q1 2019 earnings call Apple’s most important in years. Depending on how it goes, it could have an enormous impact on the company’s stock’s performance in 2019 and beyond.

Apple could sell subscriptions through upgraded TV app

By

Apple TV
Apple will upgrade TV app around April.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly planning to upgrade its TV app with support for subscription services. This will likely happen around mid-April 2019.

Don’t necessarily expect this to be the debut of Apple’s original TV efforts, however. Instead, this likely refers to making it easier to subscribe to service like HBO Now using the TV app, instead of having to subscribe through HBO’s app.

Apple plans Netflix-for-games subscription service

By

Get the professional instruction you need to start developing games for iOS
Developers could make games exclusively for Apple's game subscription service.
Photo: Epic Games

Apple allegedly wants to tap into the booming gaming industry to boost its growing Services business. The company is reportedly planning to create a new subscription service for games and it’s already talking to developers about becoming a publisher for iOS games too.

Apple’s pay news service might be part of something bigger

By

Apple News
Magazine subscriptions are coming to Apple News.
Photo: Ste Smith/CultofMac

The launch of Apple’s news magazine subscription service could be just weeks away.

Images found in the first iOS 12.2 beta appear to show that Apple is already in the testing phase of the magazine subscription service. Rumors have been circulating about its potential launch pretty much ever since Apple acquired Texture. Now it looks like the iPhone-maker is finally ready to capitalize by bundling it with other content.

Tim Cook: New services coming to Apple in 2019

By

Tim Cook
Unsurprisingly, he won't spill the beans on what they are.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook teased new services that will be coming to Apple users this year. Responding to questions about falling iPhone sales during a CNBC interview, Cook stressed the way that Apple’s services division has grown significantly in the past several years.

“The services are on a tear,” Cook said. “On services, you will see us announce new services this year. There will more things coming.”

Apple’s Services growth could be about to slow down

By

Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Apple Music is big, but is it big enough?
Photo: Apple

iPhone sales may be slowing down, but investors have held onto promising data points like Apple’s impressively growing Services division. According to some, this burgeoning part of Apple’s business even has the potential to make up 40 percent of the company’s gross profits by fiscal 2020.

Macquarie Research analyst Benjamin Schachter isn’t quite so smitten, however. In a new note to clients, Schachter claims that growth in the Services division is about to start slowing down.

Services could make up nearly half of Apple’s profits by 2020

By

Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
Apple's Services division is a money-minting machine.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s burgeoning Services division could make up 40 percent of the company’s gross profits by fiscal 2020, predicts Jefferies analyst Timothy O’Shea.

O’Shea says that Apple’s growing Services are the creamy sweet icing (not exactly his words) on top of the cake that is the existing “stable” iPhone business. As a result, he puts a price target of $265 a share on the Cupertino giant.

Bigger iPhones could explain Apple’s booming Services business

By

iphone mockups
The biggest iPhone lineup Apple's ever made.
Photo: Macotakara

Is Apple’s push to release ever-larger iPhones anything to do with the growing success of its Services division? That’s the theory put forward by the Wall Street Journal.

Drawing on Kantar data, the report notes how larger screens are linked with greater usage of everything from apps to watching videos. It would also explain why Apple is seemingly in no rush to upgrade its 4-inch iPhone SE, despite the fact that some users love it.

App Store isn’t just about games anymore

By

App Store
The App Store is another major growth driver for Apple.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s worth a crazy amount of money these days, but what really separates it from previous eras is that it no longer lives or dies by one product. Look at any part of Apple’s business and you’ll find reasons to be optimistic.

The latest example of this comes from Bank of America, which bumped its price target on Apple stock from $230 to $250 a share. Why? Because the bank noticed that the App Store is booming — and not just in the category you might expect.

The biggest takeaways from Apple’s dominant Q3 earnings results

By

Apple is made of money.
Apple is made of money.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple beat Wall Street’s expectations today with its Q3 2018 earnings report. Even though iPhone sales were barely up 1% the company still posted better-than-expected revenues as sales of Apple Watch, services and AirPods picked up the slack leading to Apple’s best Q3 results ever.

Prices of Apple shares skyrocketed closer to the illustrious $204 mark that will make the iPhone-maker the first ever trillion dollar company once the results posted and Tim Cook seemed extremely confident and relaxed on his call with investors this afternoon. While the rest of tech stocks are starting to sink, Apple is as steady ever.

Apple earnings: Can Cupertino’s latest surprise save the Street? [Live blog]

By

Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
Apple's Q3 2018 earnings are expected to be the weakest of the year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s weakest earnings report of 2018 is set to be revealed today but it might also contain a few clues about the 2018 iPhone launch this fall.

Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri will talk to investors on an open call at 2 p.m. Pacific. Analysts don’t expect a huge boost in iPhone sales and revenue (in fact some are downright pessimistic). However, Apple could pull out a few surprises like it did the last two quarters.

Per usual, Cult of Mac will be here to live-blog all the action starting at 1:30 p.m. (That’s when the earnings report typically lands.) Come join the fun!

5 key details to watch for in Apple’s Q3 2018 earnings report

By

quotes on Apple
Tim Cook may wow investors with a better-than-expected Q3 earnings report.
Photo: Apple

When Apple unveils its latest earnings report Tuesday, some analysts think the numbers may be even better than expected.

Q3 is usually Apple’s weakest quarter of the year as the iPhone sales cycle starts to come to an end. However, this week’s call may hold a number of surprises and hints about the 2018 iPhone lineup as Apple gives investors guidance on next quarter. As usual, Cult of Mac will liveblog the entire call with all the pithy analysis we can muster.

We’ll be watching for these key details in the report (and so should you).

Google’s search payments to Apple could diminish this year

By

What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Apple's Google cash is an easy source of money.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The money that Google pays Apple to be the default iOS search engine is poised to become a much smaller part of Apple’s Services revenue.

In its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple singled out licensing as one of the main factors for its 31 percent increase in Services revenue over the past quarter. But Google parent company Alphabet told investors that the money paid to distribution partners — including Apple — will slow down this year.

5 big revelations from Apple’s surprising Q2 earnings call

By

Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
Apple stock is booming after today's report.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple blew analysts’ expectations out of the water this afternoon with its historic Q2 2018 earnings report that saw the company post the most revenue ever in the March quarter.

Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri were absolutely giddy during today’s call with investors. Everyone expected the iPhone X to be a bust, but even Apple was surprised by its success as it still dominates the iPhone sales charts. New products are on the horizon too as Apple’s executives teased new goodies coming down its pipeline:

These were the biggest takeaways from the call:

Is iPhone X really a flop? We’ll know for sure tomorrow

By

Apple earnings
Investors are hoping for good news from Tim Cook.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The second Apple earnings report of 2018 is set to come out on May 1 and Wall Street’s top analysts are worried that disappointing news is on the horizon.

Rumors have been circulating for months that iPhone X sales have been far weaker than Apple expected. The company’s stock price has been slipping in the last two weeks leading up to the Q2 2018 earnings report. Everyone’s waiting to see if Apple can pull out another surprise, but the signs don’t look too promising.

Per usual, Cult of Mac will be here to live blog all the action as it transpires on Tuesday, May 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Here’s what to watch for on the call:

Apple Pay nagging might violate antitrust laws

By

Antitrust investigators want to know if retailers were compelled to use Apple Pay
It’ll take years to roll out to everyone.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is under fire for nagging iPhone users to activate Apple Pay.

Some users say its persistent notifications in iOS are “the most aggressive” push Apple has ever made to encourage users to adopt a new service. Analysts are even labeling it “antitrust behavior.”

What to expect from Apple’s first earnings call of 2018

By

Earnings call
Apple's Q1 2020 earnings report will probably break some records.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The first big Apple earnings report for 2018 is nearly here. And, based on analysts’ expectations, it will likely be Apple’s biggest moneymaking quarter ever.

After weeks of waiting, investors will finally get their first look at how well the iPhone X is selling. Apple’s holiday sales probably hit historic levels. But with recent reports that Apple slashed iPhone X orders in half, there could be quite a few surprises in store.

As usual, Cult of Mac will be here to liveblog all the action as it transpires on Thursday, February 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Get ready to watch for these six things during the call:

7 biggest takeaways from Apple’s record Q4 earnings

By

Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
AAPL shares are on the rise.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple surprised investors with its best Q4 earnings report ever today. The outrageous numbers dispelled doubts about the iPhone-maker’s strategy — and pushed Apple closer to becoming the world’s first trillion-dollar company.

With the launch of the iPhone X just hours away, Apple CEO Tim Cook had a lot to be happy about during the earnings call with investors. Analysts quizzed Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri on everything from iPhone 8 sales to how Apple plans to monetize its augmented reality efforts.

Here’s what we found out:

Apple’s earnings call will be the calm before iPhone X superstorm

By

Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple will give investors their first insight into iPhone 8 sales, right on the eve of the iPhone X launch.

The final Apple earnings call of 2017 takes place Thursday, November 2, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter ended right after the iPhone 8 started shipping. The results aren’t expected to be record-breaking, but this first glimpse should give us a better idea of how monstrous Apple’s holiday season will be.

This is what to watch for: