Apple Posts Record Services Revenue of $23.1 Billion for Q4 2023 As Subscriptions Achieve ‘Strong Double-Digit Growth’

A new Apple earnings report has revealed record-high services revenue for Q4 2023. Photo Credit: Laurenz Heymann

Apple has reported nearly $120 billion in revenue – including a record $23.12 billion from services such as Apple Music – for the 13 weeks ended December 30th. The Cupertino-based company disclosed these and other figures as part of a newly released earnings report for its fiscal first quarter. Having ended just before December’s conclusion, as mentioned, the stretch delivered, on top of the noted $23.12 billion in services revenue, $96.46 billion from the sale of iPhones and different Apple devices.

That total grew slightly year over year (YoY), but the initially mentioned services tranche spiked 11.3 percent YoY, according to the breakdown. Of course, that services play a key (and expanding) role on Apple’s balance sheet is worth keeping front of mind amid a battle concerning App Store fees – or “taxes,” as Spotify calls them.

Beyond said App Store fees, the services category also encompasses revenue from subscriptions to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and others. But the company has long opted against pinpointing the precise number of users behind each service, instead highlighting its overall subscribership.

(Incidentally, though, the National Music Publishers’ Association previously indicated that Apple Music had 32.6 million subscribers in the U.S. as of February of 2023, compared to 44.4 million for Spotify, 29.3 million for Amazon Music, 8.5 million for YouTube Music, and 2.4 million for Pandora.)

That cumulative total has for multiple quarters been “over one billion,” as described by CFO Luca Maestri, with this newly completed fiscal first quarter having brought with it “strong double-digit growth” for paid subs.“We are very pleased with our services performance in both developed and emerging markets, with all-time revenue records in the Americas, Europe, and Rest of Asia-Pacific,” added Maestri.

Regarding significant takeaways from the remainder of the earnings report, Apple identified a $2.72 billion YoY revenue improvement in Europe for the quarter. Along with relatively small growth in the Americas ($1.15 billion YoY growth), Japan ($1.01 billion YoY), and Rest of Asia-Pacific ($627 million), the hike helped the company to offset a $3.09 billion YoY falloff in China.

Notwithstanding the latter decline, Apple still managed to generate a staggering $20.82 billion from sales in the nation (which last month gained access to Apple Music Classical) on the quarter, per the report.

At the intersection of its software and hardware offerings, Apple is beginning to pay a higher royalty rate for works made available in spatial audio on Apple Music. Digital Music News reported on the pivot – one component of a wider HD-audio emphasis – back in October, several months before any other outlet did so.