Apple Spring Event Expected to Reveal Latest iPad Pro, Subscription Podcasts
April 20 2021 - 4:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Tim Higgins and Benjamin Mullin
Apple Inc. on Tuesday is expected to reveal its annual update to
high-end iPads, among other new products, and introduce a paid
subscription option within its podcast app.
The spring event, to be held at 1 p.m. New York time via the
company's website, comes after Apple's best fiscal year for iPads
in six years fueled by students and workers stuck at home amid the
global coronavirus pandemic.
The latest iPad Pro offerings will come with a comparably faster
processor than last year's version, and the addition of a mini-LED
screen and optional 5G cellular connectivity, according to a person
familiar with the plans. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company began
offering the faster 5G technology in its newest iPhones last fall,
helping juice sales for the device.
IPad sales rose 41% in the October-to-December quarter to $8.4
billion, and other Apple products such as its Mac computers,
watches and wireless headphones also saw a significant uptick in
sales because of the pandemic.
The company topped $100 billion in quarterly sales for the first
time as consumers flocked to new iterations of the iPhone and other
devices.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet, on average, expect iPad sales to
fall in the second half of the fiscal year compared with a year
ago, but still finish 2021 in September better than a year
earlier.
Some are bullish that the more powerful iPad could attract
buyers. Dan Ives, an analyst for Wedbush Securities, told investors
in a note that there could still be room for more growth, saying he
estimates only about 40% of iPad users have upgraded in the past
year.
The rollout of a paid subscription option within its podcast app
will allow listeners to compensate hosts directly, according to
people familiar with the effort.
It underscores a core strategy that Chief Executive Tim Cook has
been championing before the pandemic, one focused on building out
the company's digital services to fuel growth and make Apple's
ecosystem even more sticky.
Apple's services division generated almost $16 billion in sales
in the quarter ended in December, an almost 25% increase from the
same period the previous year.
It will further put Apple in competition with partners that have
grown increasingly vocal in complaints about how the tech giant
uses its might in ways they say are anticompetitive.
The European Union has opened formal probes into Apple in part
after Spotify Technology SA accused the tech giant of abusing its
control over how apps appear in its App Store. Apple has denied
wrongdoing.
Spotify has for years complained that Apple aimed to limit
competition to benefit its own streaming service.
In 2005, Apple helped make podcasts mainstream by bringing the
medium to iTunes. Since then, the format has taken off with
listeners and advertisers, and tech companies have been scrambling
of late to beef up their offerings.
Spotify has been adding subscribers thanks to its focus on
podcasts, spending big money to lock in high-profile talent such as
Joe Rogan. Amazon.com Inc. has signaled its expanded interest with
the purchase of Wondery.
Spotify is set to overtake Apple in terms of U.S. podcast
listeners this year, according to a forecast from research firm
eMarketer. An average of 28.2 million people in the U.S. will
listen to podcasts on Spotify at least monthly, while 28 million
will listen through Apple Podcasts, eMarketer said. In 2019,
Apple's market share was 34% of podcast listeners, which is set to
fall to 23.8% in 2021, according to eMarketer.
Write to Tim Higgins at Tim.Higgins@WSJ.com and Benjamin Mullin
at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 20, 2021 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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