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Apple Announces Major Expansion For Booming Services Segment

Apple (AAPL) has announced a major expansion of some of its most popular Services starting from today. The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud will now be available in 20 more countries, with Apple Music now available in 52 additional countries, according to the press release.

“We’re delighted to bring many of Apple’s most beloved Services to users in more countries than ever before,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s VP of Apple Music and International Content. “We hope our customers can discover their new favorite apps, games, music, and podcasts as we continue to celebrate the world’s best creators, artists, and developers.”

In particular, the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and iCloud will now be open to consumers in multiple new countries around the world, including Iraq, Georgia, Serbia, Myanmar and Morocco. Already over half a billion people visiting the App Store each week, says Apple.

Apple Music is also expanding to countries like Bhutan, Iceland, Jamaica and the Solomon Islands. New Apple Music subscribers in these 52 additional countries will receive a six-month free trial of the service, says Apple, with the added benefit of locally curated playlists such as Africa Now, Afrobeats Hits and Ghana Bounce. 

According to Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth, accelerating Services revenue momentum will increasingly become the key growth story for Apple. Indeed in Q1 2020, Services revenue already increased 17% year-over-year to hit an all-time record of $12.7 billion.

Feinseth believes that AAPL’s Services revenue could exceed $60 billion in the next 12 months, “with the potential to more than double over the next few years as AAPL continues to penetrate its install device user base of over 1.5 billion.” As a result, the analyst reiterated his ‘Strong Buy’ Apple rating on April 13.

Overall, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on AAPL stock. TipRanks shows that in the last three months, the stock has received 26 buy ratings vs 6 hold ratings and 3 sell ratings. With shares down 6% year-to-date, the average analyst price target indicates 11% upside potential from current levels. (See AAPL stock analysis on TipRanks).    

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Harriet Lefton
Harriet Lefton, originally from the UK, began her career as a journalist specialising in the niche world of metal markets. She graduated from the University of Cambridge before becoming a qualified UK lawyer. Now she has turned her attention to the world of financial blogging, covering US stocks, analysts and all manner of things finance-related.

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