Report: Apple to bundle services under ‘Apple One’ subscription
Apple is reportedly planning to launch a range of subscription bundles that will give customers access to a selection of its digital services at a lower price.
The bundles, dubbed Apple One, are set to be launched as early as October alongside the new generation of iPhones, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The subscriptions would allow users to bring together a selection of Apple services — such as Apple Music, Apple News and Apple TV Plus — under one monthly payment.
The move is aimed at encouraging customers to subscribe to more Apple services, according to the report.
The tech giant has been gradually shifting its focus towards subscription services amid slowing sales of its flagship hardware products such as iPhones.
Apple posted service revenue of $13.2bn (£10.1bn) in its fiscal third quarter last month — up almost 15 per cent on 2019.
Chief executive Tim Cook added that the company now has 550m paying subscribers on its platform, compared to 515m in the previous quarter.
However, handsets remain the Silicon Valley giant’s main source of revenue, with iPhones pulling in $26.4bn in the third quarter.
The launch of a combined subscription would mark the latest move by tech companies to boost revenue by tying together different services.
Amazon has employed a similar strategy by wrapping its free delivery, streaming and cloud storage into its Prime subscription.
Apple has announced that the launch date of its next smartphone model — the iPhone 12 — will be pushed back from September to October as a result of the coronavirus crisis.