Apple says Services performed above its own expectations in Q2

Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2021
Apple's Services rose 26.6% year on year during the second fiscal quarter of 2021, beating the company's predictions, chiefly because of the impact of the coronavirus and work from home trends.

Apple Services
Apple Services


During its latest earnings call, Apple reported that its overall 26.6% rise in revenues from Services, which hit $16.9 billion, had been boosted by the COVID pandemic. Certain services such as AppleCare+ and advertising were affected by the lack of retail stores, but others all gained.

"Our services business did better than what we were expecting when we had the last call in January," said CFO Luca Maestri. "It was stronger across the board."

Services Graph


"One of the things that we've noticed is that throughout COVID was that obviously digital services have done very well," he continued. "And then we've had a couple of categories, like Apple Care, because many of the points of sale and stores were closed and advertising because of the reduced economic activity."

"[Those] were negatively affected during COVID," said Maestri. "[However] during the March quarter we've seen a return to growth on Apple Care."

Maestri also said that Apple's advertising business had suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, but that the company has seen that beginning to change. "Consumer sentiment has improved," he said, "and advertising is coming back."

Apple would not provide guidance for future growth expectations, but did say that the company is particularly positive about Services.

"As we are adding new services, are we improving the quality of the existing services," he said, "and so when we look at all these fundamental factors of our services business, obviously we feel very good about it."



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    Well podcasts be added as a service next quarter?
  • Reply 2 of 3
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Podcasts+ or whatever it’s called will be included in AppleOne right?
    equality72521
  • Reply 3 of 3
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,296member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Well podcasts be added as a service next quarter?
    Beats said:
    Podcasts+ or whatever it’s called will be included in AppleOne right?
    1. Later this month, but uptake will depend on podcast makers so that might take a while. I think most podcasts will stick with free, using the current methods of monetization if desired (such as in-podcast ads, for which Apple does not take a cut, or Patreon et al type funding from listeners.

    2. No, it's not presently planned to be in AppleOne, nor do I think it would be until there's a HUGE catalog of subscription podcasts like with News+. Even then, I think the majority of podcasts will continue to be free for a long time to come.
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