Apple Adding Roughly 500,000 New iTunes Accounts A Day

[MacRumors]

During Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, CEO Tim Cook announced that the iTunes and App Store have 575 million store accounts and noted that Apple believes it has more accounts with credit cards than any other company on the Internet.

Asymco's Horace Dediu yesterday used the new figure to take a look at the value of an Apple user to the company. By plotting Apple's previous milestones all the way back to 2009, Dediu found that Apple is adding about 500,000 new iTunes accounts a day and that the company is on pace to add another 100 million accounts by the end of the year.

Dediu also found that iTunes revenue per account is approximately $40 per year, about half the amount seen in 2009.

One would expect such a decline as an user base expands and this approximate 50% decline in revenues per account seems reasonable for a six-fold base increase. In absolute terms the graph shows that an iTunes account generates about $3.2/month in transactions. Put another way, during the last year, an average of $40/yr of economic value is generated by every iTunes account.

The report goes on to extend the analysis to company-wide revenue and enterprise value per account holder as proxies for determine how much a single customer is worth to the company and how much that customer is valued by stockholders.

In early June, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty noted that Apple's large number of iTunes/App Store accounts offer significant potential for growth in services. And at his D11 interview, Cook touted iMessage, iTunes Store and FaceTime as examples of how Apple's services are tying together Apple's ecosystem, with Cook emphasizing that the "magic" happens at the interaction of hardware, software, and services.

Article Link: Apple Adding Roughly 500,000 New iTunes Accounts A Day

 

[1083296]

Doesn't reflect the number of users,

Still unable to merge/migrate iTunes accounts

 

[troop231]

I bet a Russian would love to have 500,000 new 'accounts' per day

 

[Jack97]

woah.

 

[firedept]

I have 3 accounts, all of which I would like to merge. So I personally believe Apple's numbers are skewed. Do not get me wrong, Apple still has lots of accounts. Also wonder how many are dormant. As for their claim to the most credit cards, I find this hard to believe. Paypal has been around far longer than iTunes. But I could be wrong.

 

[CooKieMoNs7eR]

That's insane #

 

[dejo]

As for their claim to the most credit cards, I find this hard to believe. Paypal has been around far longer than iTunes. But I could be wrong.

I don't believe a Paypal account requires a credit card attached.

 

[firedept]

I don't believe a Paypal account requires a credit card attached.

Actually meant Ebay. If you are a seller on Ebay, you are required. I would think Ebay has many sellers? Also said I could be wrong.

 

[dejo]

Actually meant Ebay. If you are a seller on Ebay, you are required. I would think Ebay has many sellers?

I signed up for eBay many years ago and didn't need to attach a credit card, so this may be a new policy. And I would be surprised if eBay had that many sellers. But (now it's my turn) I could be wrong.

Also said I could be wrong.

Yeah, sorry if my comment came across as an attack. It was not intended that way. My apologies.

 

[roadbloc]

I wonder how many of these accounts have a form of payment attached to them. 40% maybe?

 

[inlinevolvo]

I wonder how long before we see "pay with iTunes" on the checkout page of online retailers. I already enjoy the convenience of using PayPal outside of eBay. Saves me from creating accounts at each retailer, which I end up forgetting about anyway.

 

[firedept]

I signed up for eBay many years ago and didn't need to attach a credit card, so this may be a new policy. And I would be surprised if eBay had that many sellers. But (now it's my turn) I could be wrong.


Yeah, sorry if my comment came across as an attack. It was not intended that way. My apologies.

I am sure someone will correct me if wrong. No offense was ever taken.

I started as a seller here in Canada in 2000 on Ebay and it was required by them. Still is today. I do realize Ebay in every country has different rules though.

 

[dejo]

I started as a seller here in Canada in 2000 on Ebay and it was required by them. Still is today. I do realize Ebay in every country has different rules though.

Damn Canadians, always causing trouble! (I'm originally from Alberta. )

 

[.Asa]

I spend a lot more than $40/yr on iTunes

 

[unplugme71]

I myself have about 6 itunes accounts. Mostly because I started with an AOL account, then went to hotmail, then gmail, then mac, then mobileme, and now icloud. None of them have a credit card attached.

I settled on using just the mobileme account and have been purchasing on this one only. I wish Apple could merge everything, but with iTunes Match I was able to move all my music into 1 account.

----------

I spend a lot more than $40/yr on iTunes

I probably spend that monthly. Heck one month I probably spent $400 between iTunes and Mac App store. That was when I was buying iLife and iWork for both iOS and Mac, along with some movies and tv series.

 

[firedept]

Damn Canadians, always causing trouble! (I'm originally from Alberta. )

I'm originally from Pennsylvania. Now transplanted in Alberta.

 

[sazivad]

Doesn't reflect the number of users, [because users are] still unable to merge/migrate iTunes accounts.

How many of those 500,000 accounts do you really think are just duplicate accounts, or whatever?

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Paypal has been around far longer than iTunes. But I could be wrong.

Have you considered the sheer number of people using Apple products?

 

[donutbagel]

Doesn't reflect the number of users,

Still unable to merge/migrate iTunes accounts

I think I have 5 accounts, but I don't know how many people do that.

 

[phoenixsan]

Really....

a cash cow....But still, how many iTunes accounts are created for another purposes, like only seeing videos or access to the App and Mac Store and no buying nothing....?

Just wondering....

 

[firedept]

Have you considered the sheer number of people using Apple products?

Yes, but not everyone has a CC linked to iTunes either. I am not arguing that I am right, cause I could be way off on my assessment. I use iTunes all the time but only through iTunes cards and have no CC linked to iTunes.

My argument comes from the fact that Paypal have been around longer than iTunes and it is virtually used by every merchant on the net. If people are using a CC on iTunes it just seems to me that they would be using it through Paypal as well.

Tim Cook never actually gave a physical number so it is hard for any of us to really know for sure. And I think any company that would announce a physical number would be crazy. That's like telling a thief how many gold bars are in the safe. I think I make a valid point, but I have no problem being wrong about this either.

 

[jmbarry]

This really show the market is undervaluing Apple

If you read the full report, you will see that the lifetime value of an Apple user has dropped much faster than their purchases per iTunes account. In other words Apple users should be abandoning Apple rapidly. All the Apple hate sure has people thinking that Apple is horrible, but those who use it love it! Lots of upside for Apple the stock and Apple the company, despite all the negative, and its all proven by the numbers.

 

[a0me]

I have 3 accounts, all of which I would like to merge. So I personally believe Apple's numbers are skewed.

I also have 3 accounts, each for a separate iTunes Store. Some content (apps, songs, iBooks, ...) are only available in specific countries, and if we were able to "merge" we'd likely lose the ability to access each separate stores.

 

[jaknudsen]

I don't believe a Paypal account requires a credit card attached.

Neither does an iTunes account, of course.

 

[Nightarchaon]

i Didn't realise that many credit cards were stolen globally every day.