Apple Inc on Jan 8 said its Apple News service has reached 100 million monthly active users versus 85 million a year prior, demonstrating growth in a key services business that is being closely watched by investors as iPhone sales decline.

The users come from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, Apple said. Apple also offers a paid version of its news service called Apple News+ for US$9.99 per month but did not disclose subscriber numbers.

Apple gave the figures in its annual early January update on its services businesses. Apple's overall services segment revenue rose 16% to US$46.3bil in its most recent fiscal year ended on Sept 28, 2019, while its iPhone segment sales fell 14% to US$142.4bil .

The company said that between Dec 24, 2019, and Jan 1, 2020, its customers spent US$1.42bil in its App Store, a 16% increase over the previous year, and US$386mil on Jan 1 alone, a 20% increase.

Apple keeps between 15% and 30% of the sales through its App Store, depending on whether users buy software as a one-time purchase or recurring subscription.

Apple launched several new services in 2019, including a streaming video service called Apple TV+, a video game service and a credit card.

 - Reuters