Apple is reportedly struggling to add subscribers to its premium news subscription service.
The company launched Apple News+ in March, following its acquisition of the Texture app the year prior, and whilst the initial response from publishers and consumers was positive, it seems as though not many people like the app enough to want to pay $9.99 per month for it.
According to a report from CNBC, who cite sources close to Apple News+, the company was able to attract around 200,000 subscribers within the first two days of the launch.
However, the subscriber count has not increased “materially” from the first couple of days, suggesting that there are only around 200,000 paid subscribers around the world, generating around $2 million per month, significantly less than Apple’s forecasts when it was signing up publishers.
Apple News+ offers subscribers access to dozens of premium newspapers and magazines for $9.99 per month, and whilst it’s a prominent feature in the Apple News app, the company has not promoted the new service through social media or TV advertising a great deal.
However, the source added that Apple is committed to improving the core experience and turning around the fortunes of the flailing news subscription service, whatever the cost.
Publishers who signed up to offer their content from the Apple News+ app are reportedly very “disappointed” with the poor sales.
With Apple taking 50% of all revenue from each Apple News+ subscriber and sharing out the rest based on reads and time-consuming content, it seems even the biggest publishers are not earning what they thought they would.
One publisher confirmed to CNBC that they were receiving between $20,000 and $30,000 per month from the service, whilst another said that revenue was lower than anticipated.
However, they added that the increased publicity of Apple News, in general, has caused an increase in advertising revenue on the free Apple News product, which is a positive sign.
Have you subscribed to Apple News+? What do you think the company should do to encourage consumers to sign up? Let us know your thoughts on social media and check back soon for more news on Apple’s services, as and when we get it.