Apple’s services are largely software — and software sells systems

“In yesterday’s FQ2 2019 earnings conference call, the word ‘services’ was stated 26 times, compared to just 17 mentions of ‘iPhone’ and ten of ‘Mac,'” Daniel Eran Dilger writes for Roughly Drafted. “Cook spoke of Services as if they were an entirely new category of thing, stating that ‘they actually help to eliminate the boundary between hardware, software, and service, creating a singularly exceptional experience for our users.'”
“That’s some rather creative wording, but the reality is that the Services Cook was describing are effectively software, valuable applications for the hardware products Apple sells,” Dilger writes. “That’s important because it helps to clarify that Services is not really some uncharted new territory for Apple where we’re waiting to understand how things might work, but rather a quite well-known subject.”
“Apple is developing new Services — including Apple TV+ — to earn ongoing subscription revenue,” Dilger writes. “But it’s pretty clear that Apple TV+ is less like Netflix and more like iTunes: a business that’s designed not just to sell access to content, but to produce original content that is tightly linked to Apple’s platforms in a way that helps to sell Apple hardware.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You know which one of Apple’s new platforms is going to really help sell Apple hardware? Apple Arcade.
Apple Arcade only requires one hit that’s exclusive for a long enough period that it makes gamers without an Apple device strongly consider that factor when choosing their next personal computer, smartphone, tablet, or set-top box. Then, of course, once they get one Apple device, the light finally comes on and we all know what happens next!