November set App Store's 'highest monthly sales ever,' says Apple's Schiller

AppleInsider

Last month saw the App Store achieve a new monthly sales record, Apple's senior VP of worldwide marketing said on Wednesday.

Phil Schiller made the boast on Twitter without providing any specifics, such as whether he meant downloads or -- presumably -- revenue for both Apple and developers.

November 2016 was a record breaker for the #AppStore - the highest monthly sales ever in App Store history!

— Philip Schiller (@pschiller)

December 7, 2016

While App Store sales can fluctuate from month to month, they have generally been on an upward trend since 2008 alongside a growing number of iPhone and iPad owners. That in turn has attracted high-profile developers, a number of which have figured out how to further monetize their work via in-app purchases.

Sales are likely to run even higher this month, since iPhones and iPads can be popular Christmas gifts, and new owners tend to binge on apps to make them useful. During the last holiday season, over $1.1 billion was spent at the App Store between Dec. 20 and Jan. 3.

lkrupp

Glad to see Apple execs finally starting to counter the FUD machines out there cranking out negative reports.

bdkennedy1002

Thrillsville.

fallenjt

lkrupp said:

Glad to see Apple execs finally starting to counter the FUD machines out there cranking out negative reports.

Yeah, before stupid IDC says something!

jmey267

workfunlife said:

Perhaps the increase in sales is from the increases in product pricing and requiring more seperately purchased tongles for everything. An ethernet and normal usb tongle for every computer sold adds up fast

You didn't read the article or the title did you?

smiffy31

workfunlife said:

Perhaps the increase in sales is from the increases in product pricing and requiring more seperately purchased tongles for everything. An ethernet and normal usb tongle for every computer sold adds up fast

Yes, that works every time, increase prices, that increases sales, its almost linear ;-)

mr o

Swansong?

I wonder.

2017 will be … interesting:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/apple-could-lose-billions-on-progressive-web-apps-but-it-has-no-choice/

>:x

notsofast

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

At this point the end game should be to grow the user base in iOS, Mac, and TvOS as much as possible. Even if this means margins go down. The true end game is Apple makes over 50% of its revenue in services. Then they can easily grow revenue by offering new services each year.

Services such as:

1. Banking 
2. Home security
3. Home automation
4. Live TV package
5. Movie streaming (like netflix)
6. Movie sharing (like Youtube)
7. Expand iCloud
8. Expand Apple leasing hardware

But Timmy seems so stuck on trying to maximize margins instead of looking 5 years at a growing user base.

Yes, the only positive is services, other than the iPhone selling as fast as they can make them and garnering almost 100% of the industry profits, the Apple Watch on pace to have an all time record quarter for sales and be the number one consumer electronics item for the holidays, and the new MacBooks setting a record for on line sales.  Not to much positive going on, hopefully your plan will bail them out. Tim pay attention. 

buckalec

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

You should read Neil Cybart latest piece - may defuse some of the Tim loathing - https://www.aboveavalon.com

cali

workfunlife said:

Perhaps the increase in sales is from the increases in product pricing and requiring more seperately purchased tongles for everything. An ethernet and normal usb tongle for every computer sold adds up fast

This is App Store revenue not "tongles", android moron.

holyone

buckalec said:

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

You should read Neil Cybart latest piece - may defuse some of the Tim loathing - https://www.aboveavalon.com

Yeah that Cybart fellow is very good at almost making sense, but if you really think about what he says, you'll find it much too dubious to say the least

eightzero

Where's Angie? Isn't she in charge of Apple Stores?

crowley

eightzero said:

Where's Angie? Isn't she in charge of Apple Stores?

Retail stores, not digital stores, I believe.

eightzero

crowley said:

eightzero said:

Where's Angie? Isn't she in charge of Apple Stores?

Retail stores, not digital stores, I believe.

Oh. Right. My bad.

avon b7

Did he tweet it the last time the record was broken?

I can't see much newsworthy here. Ok, it was a tweet, so he can fire off whatever he wants. That's what tweets are for.

Can we assume that the new MBPs didn't break any records in November?

This is what happens when Apple starts spurting these kinds of things. It just leads to more speculation.

First Phil proclaimed great sales of the new MBPs (yes, the devil is in the details, I know), then Tim waded in to defend against claims of a downturn in Apple Watch sales. Now this.

I can't really see the point. The proof will be in the pudding: next earnings call. 

They say, 'we don't comment on future products'. They could also say, 'we don't comment on sales'. 

Who be next to tweet? Craig, Eddy, Jony?

rayz2016

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

At this point the end game should be to grow the user base in iOS, Mac, and TvOS as much as possible. Even if this means margins go down. The true end game is Apple makes over 50% of its revenue in services. Then they can easily grow revenue by offering new services each year.

Services such as:

1. Banking 
2. Home security
3. Home automation
4. Live TV package
5. Movie streaming (like netflix)
6. Movie sharing (like Youtube)
7. Expand iCloud
8. Expand Apple leasing hardware

But Timmy seems so stuck on trying to maximize margins instead of looking 5 years at a growing user base.

Yes, by selling all their personal data to boost your portfolio. 

brucemc

holyone said:

buckalec said:

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

You should read Neil Cybart latest piece - may defuse some of the Tim loathing - https://www.aboveavalon.com

Yeah that Cybart fellow is very good at almost making sense, but if you really think about what he says, you'll find it much too dubious to say the least

He puts a lot more thought into things than your one-liners...

adamc

holyone said:

buckalec said:

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

You should read Neil Cybart latest piece - may defuse some of the Tim loathing - https://www.aboveavalon.com

Yeah that Cybart fellow is very good at almost making sense, but if you really think about what he says, you'll find it much too dubious to say the least

I read the whole thing so which part is dubious.

So you reckon he is deceiving his paid subscribers like the rest of WS analysts.

adamc

avon b7 said:

Did he tweet it the last time the record was broken?

I can't see much newsworthy here. Ok, it was a tweet, so he can fire off whatever he wants. That's what tweets are for.

Can we assume that the new MBPs didn't break any records in November?

This is what happens when Apple starts spurting these kinds of things. It just leads to more speculation.

First Phil proclaimed great sales of the new MBPs (yes, the devil is in the details, I know), then Tim waded in to defend against claims of a downturn in Apple Watch sales. Now this.

I can't really see the point. The proof will be in the pudding: next earnings call. 

They say, 'we don't comment on future products'. They could also say, 'we don't comment on sales'. 

Who be next to tweet? Craig, Eddy, Jony?

He has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders to tell the truth otherwise he can be sued for deceiving them.

So you reckon others can BS about Apple's performance and the management of Apple is not allowed to correct them.

I believe you are the one who put words in their mouth they never said anything at all.

asdasd

The increase in apples services is indicative of the stickiness of apples installed base. I have a iPhone 6 and will keep it for another year. So do many of my friends. I spend about $10 a month on videos,music and apps. This story is getting missed in the rush to look at the per month sales, and of course it misses the overall spend on ios. Which is what matters to devs. 

asdasd

sog35 said:

At this point the only positive is services.

But we wary Apple. The user base won't continue to grow if you continue to treat them like crap.


I wish Tim Cook has vision and a plan and strategy.

At this point the end game should be to grow the user base in iOS, Mac, and TvOS as much as possible. Even if this means margins go down. The true end game is Apple makes over 50% of its revenue in services. Then they can easily grow revenue by offering new services each year.

Services such as:

1. Banking 
2. Home security
3. Home automation
4. Live TV package
5. Movie streaming (like netflix)
6. Movie sharing (like Youtube)
7. Expand iCloud
8. Expand Apple leasing hardware

But Timmy seems so stuck on trying to maximize margins instead of looking 5 years at a growing user base.

These days you will always be marked down but I think some ideas there are good. In particular no 8. In fact most of us lease or get a subsidised iPhone so I can see that model working for the Mac and iPad, increasing share and service revenue. It's away, with a cheaper iPhone into India and China too where carriers don't subsidise. Get a cheaper but good iPhone - maybe a reconstituted iPhone 6s into those markets on a monthly lease and it could really take off. 

edited December 2016