Apple says it’s marked the close of a historic 2019 for its Services offerings, a year that introduced Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Card, and celebrated the continued success of the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and more.
“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,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, says in a Newsroom announcement. “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.”
Here’s are some of the highlights about what Apple has to say about each of its services.
° Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned over $155 billion, with a quarter of those earnings coming from the past year alone. App Store customers spent a record $1.42 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, a 16% increase over last year, and $386 million on New Year’s Day 2020 alone, a 20% increase over last year and a new single-day record.
° Apple Music offers over 60 million songs and world class music experts and tastemakers curating thousands of playlists and daily selections in 115 countries.
° Apple TV+ made history as the first streaming platform to receive multiple Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations in its launch year, and is the first and only streaming service to debut instantly in over 100 countries and regions.
° The Apple TV app now offers over 30 Apple TV channels — direct subscriptions to premium video services so customers can watch both online and offline, ad-free and on demand, all in one app.
° Throughout 2020, the Apple Arcade gaming service will add new games and expansions every month.
° Apple News draws over 100 million monthly active users in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada In 2020, Apple News will provide live coverage of key moments in the U.S. presidential election in partnership with ABC News.
° Apple Podcasts now delivers listeners over 800,000 shows in 155 countries.
