Apple today has announced that it services will be launching in more countries thereby bringing some of its key content to a bigger audience.
The news sees the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud dispatch in 20 new nations. Apple Music seems to be one that is getting the biggest expansion into new territories with 72 new locations added across all continents. Of the 72 new countries, users in 52 of them will be able to sign up to the Apple Music free trial for up to six months before deciding to stick with the service or not. By implication, Apple Music is increasing the time frame fro free trials from three months to six.
This implies considerably more Apple users around the globe can get to know what it really means to own an iPhone. Come to think of it, what is the iPhone without the App Store for example and yet there are locations where some may have the iPhone before now but couldn’t access the App Store. You see Apple doesn’t necessarily have to have an official presence in some countries for some people to want to use Apple devices and services.
This is set to increase Apple’s services revenue further. Apple now has over 450 million subscribers across its services, a number that is projected to pass 500 million in 2020 and that’s what this expansion aims to achieve. Apple services grew 13 percent year on year in 2019 and has becomes their fastest and most reliable source of income. But this should make developers happy as well as they now have a bigger market for app monetisation. Developers earned $20b from the App Store in 2016 up 40 percent from 2015. Better is the fact January 1 2017 saw the biggest sales from the App Store in a single day at $240m. As at June 2017, it was reported that App Store users have spent a total of $100b since its launch in 2008.
On the launch of these services in the new locations, users in those places can expect to see localised content. Apple in its press release also announced more streamlined content like targeted playlists in Apple Music.
To attract more subscribers to the Apple ecosystem, Apple is expected to launch a media bundle sometime in future and this is expected to see Apple Arcade, Music, TV+ and News as a bundle for a fee that is likely to be lower than buying them individually.
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We’re delighted to bring many of Apple’s most beloved Services to users in more countries than ever before,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and International Content. “We hope our customers can discover their new favorite apps, games, music, and podcasts as we continue to celebrate the world’s best creators, artists, and developers.
The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and iCloud are now available in the following countries and regions:
- Africa: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zambia.
- Asia-Pacific: Maldives and Myanmar.
- Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.
- Middle East: Afghanistan (excluding Apple Music) and Iraq.
- Oceania:Nauru (excluding Apple Music), Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Apple Music is also expanding to the following countries and regions:
- Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Tunisia.
- Asia-Pacific:
- Europe:Croatia, Iceland, and North Macedonia.
- Latin America and the Caribbean:the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks and Caicos, and Uruguay.
- Middle East:Kuwait, Qatar, and Yemen.
- Oceania: Solomon Islands.