Apple Services Bundle Economics 101

How Apple should structure its bundle business

Apple’s yearly iPhone keynote happened and as always there is something to talk about. The new hardware looks definitely nice and a good step-change, but ultimately boring in comparison to the announcements regarding Apple’s services. Or — if you want to view it this way — the lack thereof.

What a lot of us expected was some sort of subscription bundle — pay Apple $X per month and get Arcade, TV+, News, and maybe even Music.

Bundling stuff works economically and Apple’s subscriber base is so huge that a catch-all like seen from Amazon should be an instant hit. Hence the codename Apple Prime.

But given that Apple sells services for a long time now, what’s standing in the way of launching such a bundle? I know, I know, Apple moves slowly and deliberately. But at this point it’s been 3 years.

My guess: They’re waiting till the iPhone Upgrade program is available in more countries. Here’s why.