Few years ago, there was a looming fear that Apple sales would continue to decline or turn stagnant as people would upgrade their iPhones less and less. However, in Apple’s favour, that never actually happened over a long period, the iPhones sales continue to be strong. We talk about the iPhone when the topic is of Apple’s revenue because it commands the largest portion of the company’s revenue and is its flagship product.
In the recent past, to ensure diversification and not rely on a single product, Apple has expanded its services offerings by a large measure. The company’s Apple One is a great lock-in service, which allows users to gain access to all of Apple’s services such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud storage, etc. It offers ease of payment and subscription to its users, in-turn for Apple it ensures that its users get hooked and eventually never actually think of moving to a new platform or service.
iMessage lock-in continues to work in Apple’s favor
iMessage is a classic example which has users “hooked” at least in the United States. Google for years has been trying to get users to switch to its Pixel platform but has successfully failed every single year, it appears to be the same case with the newly launched Pixel 10. In the early 2000s and 2010s, smartphone texting was new and people were trying out new apps and services, however the market is now mature and people have settled. iMessage is what the US citizens have chosen as their choice of texting platform.
The recent TV+ price hike puts Apple’s service bundles in the spotlight. Apple One, which combines TV+, Music, iCloud, Fitness+, and Arcade, remains unchanged in price—making it a better value for families or power users. This shift effectively nudges customers toward bundles, locking them deeper into Apple’s ecosystem. For single-service subscribers, the standalone jump may seem steep, but bundled pricing shows Apple’s intent: to boost ecosystem stickiness. Analysts argue that Apple One’s unchanged pricing makes it the real winner, helping Apple balance revenue growth from services while ensuring long-term customer retention across multiple verticals.
