Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell in morning trades after the world’s largest technology company yesterday launched Apple Music, a $9.99-a-month streaming music service that may not differ dramatically from competitors but comes with Apple's deep music roots, global brand and hundreds of millions of iTunes customers.
Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company slumped 1.1 percent to $126.32 at 10:13 a.m. in New York.
The unveiling of the service, the kick-off to the week-long Worldwide Developers Conference, also included the announcement of an upgraded operating system for Apple's watch that will let developers create speedier "native" apps that rely less on the iPhone.
Apple said that "El Capitan" will be the name of the next version of OS X for its Macs.
It disclosed that the next version of the software that powers iPhones and iPads, called iOS 9, will come out this fall and detailed the continued expansion of Apple Pay, which will launch in the United Kingdom next month.
It also introduced an app called News, which will be included in a forthcoming update to its iOS mobile software that launches this fall. News combines articles from news organizations including ESPN, the New York Times and Condé Nast, presenting them in a single format in the style of a digital magazine.
Apple is moving to reassert itself amid changes in how consumers watch television, read news and listen to music, while seeking to leverage its hundreds of millions of iTunes accounts and hundreds of millions of smartphones and tablets in consumers’ hands.
Apple's music service will enable artists to share songs directly with fans, include a global 24/7 radio station named Beats 1 and stream music from the entire iTunes catalog. Apple Music follows similar streaming services from Spotify, which streams music from record labels and media companies, Pandora, a self-described personalized radio station and others.
The App Store has seen more than 100 billion app downloads, with the average individual downloading 119 apps, the company said.
Apple said its Music service, which will be available on Apple devices June 30, will be offered on devices running Google’s Android operating system later this year.
Apple Music is the company’s first foray into music streaming, having shaped the digital downloads market with the launch of the iTunes store in 2003.
With News, Apple aims to give users a single spot to find news from a variety of publishers instead of sifting through individual apps.
The company also unveiled new details about its Apple Pay service, saying it was already supported by more than 2,500 banks and will surpass 1 million locations accepting it next month.
In a related move, Apple said it would rename Passbook, its app for credit and debit cards and boarding passes, to Wallet.