UPDATED 16:04 EDT / AUGUST 13 2020

APPS

Report: Apple gearing up to launch ‘Apple One’ subscription services bundle

Apple Inc. is reportedly developing a new subscription offering that will allow users to purchase all of its core entertainment and content services for a single discounted price.

The offering is referred to internally as Apple One, according to the Bloomberg report that detailed the iPhone maker’s plans today. It’s expected to launch as early as October.

Apple’s investment in services over the last few years has yielded major dividends for the company. Last quarter, its services business grew at several times the rate of iPhone revenues and generated global sales of $13.16 billion, up nearly 15% from the year-ago period and representing about a quarter of Apple’s total revenue in the quarter.

The idea with Apple One seems to be to encourage customers to buy more subscriptions by offering them favorable pricing. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the bundle will offer savings ranging from $2 to upwards of $5 per month compared with purchasing access to Apple’s services individually. The exact amount users save will depend on which tier of the bundle they subscribe to.

The basic version of Apple One is said to include Apple Music and Apple TV+, the iPhone maker’s streaming service. A second, more expensive tier will add in access to the Apple Arcade catalog of mobile games, while a third tier will also include Apple News. The most expensive plan is said to include all the offerings in the more affordable tiers plus extra iCloud storage and a new, yet-unannounced exercise video subscription service.

That last service will presumably be announced before or at the same time as Apple One. Apple is expected to debut the bundle formally at the same time it announces its new iPhones, which the company typically does in September or October.

Video offerings such as Apple’s reported exercise video subscription service have been a particularly big focus of its efforts to expand its services business. Last year, the company is said to have earmarked $6 billion to produce original shows for Apple TV+. The four new iPhones expected to be announced alongside the Apple One, in turn, are all reported to feature ultra-sharp OLED displays, a departure from previous years when only the top-end iPhone models shipped with OLED technology. 

Photo: Apple

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