Apple’s high-flying stock raises the company near a market value of $ 2 trillion after a report that the company will introduce bundles of its TV, music, video game, iCloud and other services.
Shares of the tech giant gained 2% in midday trading to rise above $ 461, setting a new high of $ 464.14.
The company was able to begin offering the bundles, known to employees as “Apple One,” in October when it began selling a new line of iPhones, Bloomberg News reported. Prices and tiers are not determined. An Apple rep declined to comment on the report, citing unidentified sources, when contacted by Deadline.
Bundling could be a blow to the fate of Apple TV +, the streaming video service that was introduced last November. The company has offered a free year of offering $ 5 a month to anyone who buys an Apple device, but that promotion window will close soon. After a less than optimal launch, when The Morning Show and other initial programming drew mixed reviews and were flooded by Disney +, Apple has seen its streaming fortifications improve markedly.
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Along with 18 Emmy nominations for The Morning Show and other titles, Apple has earned critical acclaim in 2020 for animated series Central park, documentary Beastie Boys Story and anthology Little America. Armed with $ 245 billion in cash on its balance sheet, it has also shaken up the film industry with a string of aggressive moves. It bought Tom Hanks World War II movie Greyhound of Sony and country Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio reunited with Killers of the Flower Moon and the action drama of Antoine Fuqua Emancipation, who died Will Smith.
Apple has not yet released any viewer or subscriber data for Apple TV +.
Even for COVID-19, services had become a strategic focus for Apple, as the tech giant deviated from hardware, which has more economic sensitivity and less reliable profit margins. After more than a decade as a standard carrier, the iPhone posted sales promotions in 2018 for the first time, although they have since stabilized. In the services department, gross margin rose 67% in the quarter ended June 30, with total revenue of $ 13.2 billion. Apple now has 550 million paying subscribers to its various services, well within its target of 600 million by the end of 2020.
Apple Music has been an anchor of the service effort, along with iCloud and Apple TV. The company recently added Arcade and News + to team up with Apple TV +.
The Bloomberg report also said the company is looking to launch an online subscription service for fitness classes, which would give it a chance to take Peloton and Nike into the booming space. Peloton reached 1 million online subscribers in May, while Nike reported adding 25 million new members in the fourth quarter.
