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Apple unveils new watch & virtual fitness service
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Apple Inc rolled out a new virtual fitness service and a bundle of all its subscriptions, Apple One, focusing a holiday-season product launch on services that are the backbone of Apple’s growth strategy and that cater to customers working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Apple One bundle will cost US$15 per month for an individual plan or US$20 per month for a family plan shared by up to six people and include Apple Music, Apple TV+ and the Apple Arcade game service. Apple is also offering a bundle for US$30 per month that adds Apple Fitness+, Apple News+ and additional cloud storage.
The subscription bundle highlights Apple’s efforts to put more emphasis on digital content and services amid a sluggish smartphone market.
“It’s a lot more aggressive pricing than I thought,” said Ben Bajarin, principal analyst for consumer market intelligence at research firm Creative Strategies, adding that Apple customers already paying US$15 a month for family plans to some of the firm’s content servers would likely find the largest bundle a “no-brainer.”
Apple’s top streaming music rival Spotify Technology criticized the bundle, saying Apple was abusing its dominant market position to favor Apple Music. Spotify, which is pursuing an antitrust case against Apple in the European Union and has spoken with US authorities probing the iPhone maker, charges US$10 a month for its streaming service that competes with Apple but won’t be eligible for Apple’s bundle.
In a statement responding to Spotify’s criticism, Apple said the bundle was aimed at existing users of its services and that “customers can discover and enjoy alternatives to every one of Apple’s services.”
Apple also took the wraps off a new high-end watch model and a next-generation iPad during a virtual event on Tuesday. The company normally also rolls out its new iPhones at this time of year, but production problems caused by the pandemic have delayed their release until at least October.
The new Apple Watch Series 6 that adds new features, including monitoring sleep and blood oxygen levels as well as detecting when wearers are washing their hands, will cost US$399. And a more basic Apple Watch SE will sell for US$279.
Apple said both new watches and a new eighth-generation iPad can be pre-ordered starting on Tuesday and will be available tomorrow. Apple also introduced the Apple Fitness+ service that will deliver virtual workouts for US$10 per month or US$80 per year and be available before the year’s end.
Apple’s fitness service puts it closer to competition with Peloton Interactive Inc, which makes connected exercise gear and sells subscriptions to online fitness classes. Apple said that most of its workouts were designed to be conducted with either no equipment or minimal gear such as a set of dumbbells. Peloton’s workouts typically require either a bike or a treadmill.
The Apple Watch’s ability to monitor blood oxygen seeks to beat a similar feature already available on watches from rival Fitbit Inc, which Alphabet Inc’s Google is buying for US$2.1 billion. Apple said its watch will be able to take absolute blood oxygen measurements on-demand while the user is still, while Fitbit’s devices currently show either variations in blood oxygen levels or a set of measurements taken while the user is sleeping.
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