Apple is planning to launch a subscription digital news and magazine service to sit within an upgraded Apple News app, reports on Tuesday claimed.
Bloomberg sources say Apple is folding in the Texture app, which offers users all-you-can-eat access to 200 magazines for $9.99 a month, and was recently acquired by Cupertino.
The report says Apple plans to launch the service at some point within the next year.
Whether it’ll include only magazines or give subscribers access to news content currently sitting behind subscription paywalls (such as The Times in the UK), remains to be seen.
It appears from today’s report that Apple is planning a solution similar to its successful Apple Music platform, which recently topped 40 million subscribers.
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Given the firm is also expanding its footprint in original video content, it’s possible Apple could soon be offering three media subscription platforms.
All about the services
Apple’s Services division – which includes iTunes sales, the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud storage plans and Apple Pay transactions – continues to grow rapidly.
Contrarily, growth in iPhone hardware sales appears to be stalling, as owners hold onto their handsets for longer. As a result, Apple is looking to sell more products to those existing customers.
The company is currently bringing in $30 billion a quarter from its services division, which is well on the way to its $50 billion target.
It’s possible Apple could launch the magazine service as part of iOS 12, which we’re expecting to see previewed at WWDC 2018 in June.
That would mean a September roll-out could be on the cards, although Apple is no longer afraid to delay the launch of marquee new features until later in the annual iOS release cycle.
Will a Netflix for news and magazines be the final piece of the puzzle for Apple’s services division? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
