Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) confirmed it has reached one billion paying subscribers for its whole host of services, including its streaming platform and iCloud storage, a third-quarter update revealed.
“We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions,” said chief executive officer Tim Cook.
Services was the only category to experience year-on-year growth for the nine months to July 1, as revenues jumped from US$58.9 billion to US$62.8 billion.
Accounting for more than 20% of Apple’s overall sales, services like Apple Music are second only to iPhone revenues, which dropped 3.7% to US$156.7 billion, outperforming categories like Mac and iPad, which together account for around US$43 billion of the top-line.
Total sales dropped in the nine months from US$304 billion to US$293 billion and revenues for the quarter fell to US$81.7 billion, beating guidance but representing a year-on-year decline.
Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Apple… looks set for a fourth successive revenue decline in Q4, the first time this has happened in 20 years.
“One thing in Apple’s favour is its move into India where it currently has low market share. The potential here is huge and the hope is that growth here will offset any slowdown in its more mature markets.”
Guidance for the fourth quarter expects more declines in revenues for the tech giant, with Mac and iPad sales expected to fall by a double-digit percentage.
Shares in Apple are down over 2% in post-market trading, having closed on Thursday in the US at a little over US$192.