Apple has considered adding an ‘Instacart-like service’ to its porfolio

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple has considered adding an “Instacart-like service” to its Services portfolio that would integrate with the company’s Health app.

“There are a few new Apple services in development. The next two we should see: the iPhone hardware subscription program and ‘buy now, pay later’ for Apple Pay transactions,” he writes.”The company has also explored some Instacart-like service that integrates with nutrition data in the Health app. That’s probably a doozy to pull off and sounds fairly low-margin. I’m also hoping for some bigger upgrades to TV+.”

Possible Services additions/changes

The iPhone subscription program would allow you to buy an iPhone and/or iPad hardware with a payment structure “similar to paying a monthly app fee.” The “Apple Pay Later” service would let you split any Apple Pay purchase into interest-free payments made every two weeks, or across several months with interest. Gurman also says ays that we can expect Apple Fitness+ to expand with a “bunch of new workout types” with iOS 16 this year.

About Instacart

But back to the Instacart-like service. It’s an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the U.S. and Canada. Instacart offers its services via a website and mobile app. Customers can order groceries from participating retailers with the shopping being done by a personal shopper. 

Apple Services

On May 5, BanklessTimes.com provided data putting Apple Services’ significance to Apple’s earnings in perspective. The site’s analysis shows that the unit earned the tech giant US$75.1 billion in the fiscal year ending in March 2022. 

That was a five-fold jump from the $14.5B it realized in the 12 months preceding March 2013. The latest earnings would place it 115th in the global fortune 500’s rankings if it were a standalone entity.

How does Apple Services do it?

According to banklesstimes.com, Apple Services would have slotted in between Mitsui and CITIC group on the fortune 500 list. The former would just about pip it to the 114th spot with its $75.56 billion revenue. But it would dislodge the latter ($74.69 billion) from the 115th spot.

At its core, Apple’s services business is about selling digital content and subscriptions to Apple’s customers. It does so through digital platforms, including the Apple Store, Apple Music, and iCloud. Others are Apple TV+, Apple Care, and Apple Arcade.

Apple estimates its paying subscribers to be 825 million after a 165 million growth from last year. The App Store has become an increasingly important source of revenue for the firm, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% since 2020.