Apple's services category, which includes the App Store, Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness, and more, saw significant growth in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 (fourth calendar quarter of 2020).
According to Apple's latest earnings report, the services segment brought in $15.8 billion, up from $12.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Apple now has more than 620 million paying subscribers, reaching a goal that it set to have 600 million by the end of 2020. The App Store, iCloud services, Apple Music, AppleCare and payment services all saw all-time revenue records, with new services like Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Fitness+ and Apple One also contributing to services growth, as has Apple Pay. Apple Pay is now accepted at 90 percent of retail locations in the U.S.
Across 2020, the App Store grossed more than $64 billion according to a recent report from CNBC. That's up from an estimated $50 billion in 2019. Apple does not confirm App Store sales number, but Apple earlier this month said that $200 billion has been paid out to developers since 2008, a figure that's up $45 billion from the numbers provided in January 2020.
Late in 2020, Apple introduced its Apple One services bundles that pair up services like Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+ at reduced prices, and it unveiled Apple Fitness+, a $9.99 per month service that provides guided home workout options to Apple Watch owners.
