Apple PR ‘celebrates’ landmark year in services

The latest Apple press release aims to underline the importance of its families of internet-based services — but is a little short on detail.

A historic 2019, Apple claims

Apple launched new services including Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Card in 2019.

The PR reminds us of the “continued success” of the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and more experiences only Apple can create and deliver.

The release confirms the Apple TV app will be made available on smart televisions from LG, Sony and VIZIO later this year.

The company also takes time to stress its commitment to privacy, security and quality, saying:

“Apple provides customers with the highest-quality services along with an unparalleled commitment to privacy and security, and offers creators and developers the opportunity to bring their creative visions to people around the world.”

Eddy Cue sets the stall for the decade

In the press release, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services seems to be setting the scene for a 10-year services plan, saying:

“2019 was the biggest year for Services in Apple’s history. We introduced several exciting new experiences for our customers, all while setting the standard for user privacy and security.

“We begin the new decade with incredible momentum and gratitude to our customers who have shown such enthusiasm for all of our Services, and we continue to celebrate the work of the world’s best creators, storytellers, journalists and developers.”

What about the detail?

There isn’t a great deal of detail in the release, though it does mention that developers have earned over $155 billion in App Store sales sine 2008, “with a quarter of those earnings coming from the past year alone.”

Going into 2020, App Store customers spent a record $1.42 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, a 16 percent increase over last year, and $386 million on New Year’s Day 2020 alone, a 20 percent increase over last year and a new single-day record.

The App Store is visited by over half a billion people each week, the company claims.

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Additional nuggets:

• Apple Music – now in 115 countries offering over 60 million songs, making it a global platform to reach audiences.
• Over 50% of iOS users have used the new time-synced lyrics feature introduced in iOS 13.
• Apple TV+ is and was the first and only streaming service to debut in over 100 countries and regions from day one.
• The Apple TV app now offers over 30 Apple TV channels — direct subscriptions to premium video services.
• Apple News has over 100 million monthly active users in the US, UK, Australia and Canada.
• Apple Podcasts offers 800,000 shows in 155 countries.
• Apple Pay and Apple Card are seeing wide use, and we will see the former deployed in mass transit systems in Washington, D.C., Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Foshan.
• Over 75 percent of iCloud users are protected with two-factor authentication.

One more thing

Signing off on its press release, Apple states:

“In 2020, Apple will continue to delight customers, collaborate with developers and creators, offering new levels of creativity, choice and innovation across original series and films, podcasts, music, news, games, apps, payments and unique experiences only Apple can deliver.”

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