New Apple Services Could Include 'Podcasts+,' 'Stocks+,' and 'Mail+,' Analysts Predict

[Alan Wynn]

Well Alan, Latency doesn't really seem to be too big of an issue with proton mail as that is in the same situation I described.

It is less of an issue for people who understand it is going to be an issue (Proton Mail users are very self selecting - not a criticism, just an observation).

The number of email addresses is kind of irrelevant, I just want a decent amount of storage, because I tend not to delete items for more than a year at a time. So, it could be one, or it could be five for all I care.

The number of e-mail addresses matters, as that is one of the metrics that eMail providers use to charge for their service. Proton Mail's paid service, is 5GB, 5 addresses, 2 domains and is just under $10 a month.

Don't really need a family plan, most of the Apple devices in my home are mine.

Ok, that sets the current price for Apple Music at $9.99.

Now as for your pricing model, not sure how you could even quantify that, as you cannot get a single apple care coverage plan that covers every single device.

I do not have a pricing model, I simply added the list prices of the services you wanted included, included one free eMail address currently provided by Apple, and figured basic AppleCare+ for one iPhone 12 Pro, for which you said you would be willing to pay $20.

• Apple Music $9.99
• AppleTV+ 4.99
• 200 GB of iCloud Storage $2.99
• AppleCare+ (without Theft and Loss protection) $9.99

List price total for that is ~$28. If you also have an iPad that would increase the list price to ~$34.

Where you to add something like Proton Mail's service your list price would be ~$38 - $43.

No plan will ever cover "every single device" with no limit - that would clearly not be economically viable. My expectation is that a plan that bundled AppleCare+ and was not a Family Plan would do it for one iPhone or maybe one iPhone and an iPad, but given that there are real hardware costs for replacement parts, I am not even sure that makes sense.

Crud, the phone alone is $12, and I have it for my tablet as well. Anyway, I said what I would pay for that, I might go a small bit higher, but at $30 a month I'm not on board with most of it.

It is quite generous of you to be willing to pay Apple $2 (the difference between what you are currently paying at a minimum for AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss for your iPhone plus basic AppleCare+ for your iPad) for Apple Music, AppleTV+ and 200 GB of storage (~$18 at list price). If I were Apple, however, I would respectfully decline your offer as that would not even cover their bandwidth and storage costs.

 

[odonnelly99]

A range of new Apple services could include "Podcasts+," "Stocks+," and "Mail+," according to a new report by Loup Ventures analysts.

Apple's subscription service products are increasingly important to its business model and is now almost the size of a Fortune 50 company by revenue, growing by 16 percent in 2020 to $53.7 billion. Loup Ventures highlights that Spotify accumulated 144 million paid subscribers over a period of 14 years, while Apple Music accumulated 85 million paid subscribers in just five years. "This illustrates the power of services built on top of default apps," the report says.

Loup Ventures claims that there is room for a number of additions to Apple's successful services segment. New subscriptions could be "hiding in plain sight," being built upon existing apps, and in turn aid the continued growth and adoption of Apple's products and services.

Podcasts+ would form a tier in the existing Podcasts app, offering a selection of exclusive premium shows. Spotify has moved aggressively into podcasts, acquiring the exclusive rights to popular shows and removing them from other services. Podcasts+ would enable Apple to claw back space within the field. Apple has been repeatedly rumored to be moving into exclusive podcasts, even holding talks to acquire podcast network Wondery before it was bought by Amazon.

According to the report, Podcasts+ is expected to be bundled as a part of Apple One as well as Apple Music, with no added charge for existing paid subscribers. Podcasts+ would also help to "drive incremental interest" in Apple Music and Apple One as a result, "generating high-margin, recurring revenue."

Stocks+ could build upon Apple's move into personal finance with Apple Card, offering financial services such as investment accounts. Apple could "replicate its success with Apple Card and offer low-fee, private, secure, simple brokerage accounts," and present integrated information on cost basis, market value, gain, and loss. In addition, Apple could offer trading services similar to Robinhood and robo-advisory services like Wealthfront.

Furthermore, Mail+ could be the first Apple service related to personal productivity. Taking cues from existing services such as Invisible and Calendly, Mail+ could offer advanced inbox management, automation, and scheduling.

The report also tentatively outlines two additional services titled "Maps+" and "Health+," but provides much less information about what forms they could take. Maps+ could present advanced suggestions for destinations based on a desired outcome and be heavily integrated into the rumored Apple Car. Health+ could leverage the data Apple currently gathers via its Health app and present an offering that moves into digital healthcare and telemedicine.

Key to any new Apple services, the report explains, is a high level of integration. Apple Fitness+ serves as a case study of how an Apple service can move into a new space and offer a product that competitors are unable to match due to deep integration with existing products and services, such as the Apple Watch, Activity rings, and Apple Music.

Loup Ventures believes that new Apple services will capture value in new ways and drive the company toward a three-trillion dollar market cap. The firm has also speculated in the past that Apple will launch a combined hardware and software subscription.

Article Link: New Apple Services Could Include 'Podcasts+,' 'Stocks+,' and 'Mail+,' Analysts Predict

“...And with new App Store+, you can finally download all your favorite porn apps!”

 

[HVDynamo]

Happy to see that Apple is continuing to expand their services!

I listen to a lot of podcasts so I’m glad that Apple is putting more emphasis on that growing industry

I'm not. I'm honestly sick of having a monthly fee tied to every damn thing these days. It's getting expensive.

 

[Abazigal]

I'm not. I'm honestly sick of having a monthly fee tied to every damn thing these days. It's getting expensive.

Also optional.

 

[Alan Wynn]

Apple's bundle is completely unrational except for the Apple sheep. When a bundled services comes a long it should be with complementing services. For example Youtube gives you no ads video+audio.

Apple bundles the services a large percentage of their customers use. You mean YouTube has a much smaller set of services, so they have less they can bundle?

Apple is giving News bundled with their own TV shows and iCloud storage. This is akin to getting a newspaper subscription, free car oil changes, and ballet classes.

How is Google's bundling Music and Video different than bundling a different set of content: Games, Fitness, Music, and Video, plus a place for one to store and share one's own content (using iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive)?

 

[cashville2400]

All of this sounds okay, but what about a revamp of the prices and sizes for iCloud?

 

[Alan Wynn]

All of this sounds okay, but what about a revamp of the prices and sizes for iCloud?

What would you like to see? They are priced the same as the other providers, although they top out at only 4TB where as some others offer more for more money.

 

[Playergood]

That's some arm-chair journalism right there. He literally added a + next to apple's main apps, tried to figure out what that might mean, gave up on some, and called it a day.

I can’t wait for calculator+.

 

[Pmperry]

It is less of an issue for people who understand it is going to be an issue (Proton Mail users are very self selecting - not a criticism, just an observation).

The number of e-mail addresses matters, as that is one of the metrics that eMail providers use to charge for their service. Proton Mail's paid service, is 5GB, 5 addresses, 2 domains and is just under $10 a month.

Ok, that sets the current price for Apple Music at $9.99.

I do not have a pricing model, I simply added the list prices of the services you wanted included, included one free eMail address currently provided by Apple, and figured basic AppleCare+ for one iPhone 12 Pro, for which you said you would be willing to pay $20.

• Apple Music $9.99
• AppleTV+ 4.99
• 200 GB of iCloud Storage $2.99
• AppleCare+ (without Theft and Loss protection) $9.99

List price total for that is ~$28. If you also have an iPad that would increase the list price to ~$34.

Where you to add something like Proton Mail's service your list price would be ~$38 - $43.

No plan will ever cover "every single device" with no limit - that would clearly not be economically viable. My expectation is that a plan that bundled AppleCare+ and was not a Family Plan would do it for one iPhone or maybe one iPhone and an iPad, but given that there are real hardware costs for replacement parts, I am not even sure that makes sense.


It is quite generous of you to be willing to pay Apple $2 (the difference between what you are currently paying at a minimum for AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss for your iPhone plus basic AppleCare+ for your iPad) for Apple Music, AppleTV+ and 200 GB of storage (~$18 at list price). If I were Apple, however, I would respectfully decline your offer as that would not even cover their bandwidth and storage costs.

I guess you’re not familiar with how bundling discounts work huh? Proton Mail is $5 a month for the service level I’ve quoted, I already have that.

Let’s say Apple covered a Mac, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, and iPhone for a fee equal to $15, but you paid it yearly as part of the bundle. Then they dropped the Apple Music Price down to the $5 range and kept the iCloud service. You would be right in my price range for about $350 A year. You would pretty much have a service that is a no brained for most people on their platform.

 

[dumastudetto]

I’m for all the pluses, plus anything if it leads to a richer experience for the sophisticated Apple consumer.

Music+ for UHD audio is one I want. I’d be happy to pay an extra 15 bucks a month for a true high-fidelity audio experience.

Mail+ with enterprise grade spam filtering, custom domains, and deeper productivity integrations with Apple‘s other experiences such as calendars and tasks.

Photos+ could unlock powerful editing tools, image filters, and special effects that amaze.

 

[Brien]

Everyone has their budget to stay within and at $30 a month, Apple One Premiere is exactly my limit considering there's no AppleCare or devices to bundle on to that. A $100 a month iPhone + iPad + AppleCare would be pretty appealing but I digress.

The hope is that Apple rewards its loyal Premiere subscribers who joined before additional services were added with a slightly better discount OR gives us the option to add them or not. I don't want to pay for Mail+ or Stocks or podcasts. I don't need those services. If included, I would give them a try.

My conservative guess is the only people who have subscribed to Premiere are those who had Apple Music Family and needed Fitness OR were using 2TB of storage and music and thought "what the hell, it's only $5 more dollars for arcade, fitness and news" which is the camp I was in.

If Premiere did not include 2TB with the $30 price, I would have not upgraded. I only use Music + iCloud and have occasionally dabbled in Fitness, Arcade & News but they aren't core to my life.

Personally if they had another tear of the Premier I would not subscribe I agree with you anything more than $30 is ridiculous.

Even $30 is more than I wanna pay honestly

 

[MacAddict1978]

I'm not. I'm honestly sick of having a monthly fee tied to every damn thing these days. It's getting expensive.

Agreed!

This is going to implode at some point. SaaS and subscription content are not sustainable for consumers or businesses financially speaking. At least with streaming services, you can pay for a month, binge new content, cancel, rinse wash and repeat across the services.

I don't even want to think about what I'm paying a month in subscriptions.

 

[koil]

Oh ****, here we go! If Mail+ lets me use custom domains I'll transition from G-Suite in a heartbeat. Please Apple!