Apple reports $1.42 billion in apps sales in one week

Consumers spent big between Christmas and New Year's eves

Apple said Wednesday that its new focus on services continues to pay off, as consumers spent $1.42 billion on apps between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve alone.

Apple said the sales figures represented a 16% increase over the same period in 2018, and the booming business continued with a single-day App Store sales record of $386 million on New Year’s Day. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, said holiday week sales helped make 2019 “the biggest year for Services in Apple’s history.”

It was a rare early disclosure of financial information for Apple, which is scheduled to give its fiscal first-quarter results on Jan. 28.

Apple has made services one of its main areas of focus for the company’s future as it hopes to retain and attract iPhone users, in particular. In 2019, the company made its biggest push ever into services with the launch of its Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Arcade subsciption based offerings, and the debut of its Apple Card credit card, which is part of an effort to expaned its presence in the financial services market. The company also rolled out the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max updates to its iPhone business.

Apple highlighted the rapid acceptance of its Apple News+ service, which the company said has 100 million monthly active users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Apple News+ subscribers pay $9.99 a month for unlimited access to the digital versions of more than 300 magazines, and select newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

“This update clarifies why Apple’s service business is so important to the company,” said Tim Bajarin, director of tech consulting firm Creative Strategies. “Apple’s service revenue was $12.5 billion in the third quarter of 2019 and should make well over $40 billion from services in the new year.”

Apple touted the benefits of App Store sales to developers by saying it has paid out $155 billion to developers since the App Store opened in 2008, with onequarter of those payments coming in 2019.

Contact Rex Crum at 408278-3415.