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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has been struggling to add new subscribers to its Apple News+ service that launched in March, according to a new report from CNBC that cites people familiar with Apple News+.

When Apple News+ debuted, Apple signed on approximately 200,000 subscribers within 48 hours, but has not had luck attracting many new customers. The subscriber count has not "increased materially from its first couple of days," based on information from CNBC's sources.

applenewsplus-800x404.jpg

Apple News+, which offers up access to magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month, was promoted at launch, but Apple has not been heavily marketing it since then. Despite this, Apple is said to be committed to improving Apple News for years to come.

Publishers who thought the service would bring in more revenue are "disappointed" with poor sales. Apple takes 50 percent of the revenue from every Apple News+ subscriber, while the rest of the money is doled out to publishers based on the amount of time that subscribers spend reading their content.

One publisher has received between $20,000 and $30,000 per month from Apple News+, which is lower than expected. Another publisher told CNBC that while Apple News+ revenue growth is lower than anticipated, advertising from the free Apple News product has consistently climbed.

A Bloomberg report from earlier today suggested Apple is considering a bundle that would include Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+ for one monthly price, which could potentially make Apple News+ more appealing because other services would be available alongside it. Such a bundle could be released as early as 2020.

Article Link: Apple News+ Struggling to Get New Subscribers
 
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CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,507
11,506
Seattle, WA
I personally find it a generally good idea, as I subscribe to a number of magazines that AN+ includes so going to AN+ would not cost me significantly more than I am paying currently for the print editions and I would have access to vastly more content. That being said, I prefer to have the physical version versus the electronic. I don't feel this way with books, anymore (I now only do digital), but perhaps it is the more "rich" content of a magazine that just looks and feels better in physical form. I also need to find the spare time to read more periodicals. :p

If Apple does ever offer a bundle, that would probably be what encourages me to switch full-time to digital.
 

tritian

macrumors member
Jul 19, 2008
70
189
I dropped it. The magazines were not great. The News+ service limited stories that I wanted to follow. Example: Seeing a story on LA Times (my local paper) that I wanted to tag and read later, that story could not be found in AppleNews+. No amount of searching would display it. I dont need Apple deciding which news stories I can even search for from a source.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
16,105
17,028
I thought this service was Vaporware, and it seems like Apple did too. Kinda ridiculous to think about the fact they held an event spanning hours long surrounding this crap, with only paid applause, but not even a mini event for AirPods Pro or the 16" MBP.

Media needs some kinda serious comeback (which I'm not sure they can recover from) that I'm of the belief transcends the medium it is delivered upon; and this aint it chief

Regular non-paywall News is an app I don't even access often really why would I pay for it?
 

fmcshan

Editor
Apr 8, 2019
223
751
Apple News+ is the only service I really don't like. I usually don't read magazines and many news articles/stories are available for free anyways via the News app without a subscription. If Apple made a bundle, having Apple Arcade, Apple Music, and Apple TV+ would be nice.... I just don't see myself ever reading magazines from News+.
 

foobarbaz

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2007
953
2,414
For Apple news to attract customers, they need to cover a large selection of news. To cover a large selection of news (without increasing the price) they need to attract lots of customers.

I feel like the only way to succeed is within the mythical Apple bundle.
 

LeeW

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2017
4,341
9,441
Over here
It was worth it to me, the price of the subscriptions I actually buy made it a no brainer but the layout was annoying and sometimes the format would break completely. I cancelled it.
 
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