If one chart could show just how well-positioned Apple is to make a move into mobile payment, this tweet from Horace Dediu is it. iTunes has four times as many active accounts as Amazon – and since we know from Tim Cook that “the majority of those have credit cards behind them,” that means Apple has at least twice as many credit cards on file as the ecommerce giant.
There has been a little confusion around the numbers, with some sources suggesting Apple has four times as many credit cards on file as Amazon, based on a claim that “most” iTunes accounts have cards linked to them. But the actual phrase used by Cook was “the majority” – which could mean anything from 51 percent up.
Tim Cook as good as confirmed that mobile payment via Touch ID is on the way when he said in January that “it was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID” and “a big opportunity” for the company.
It has previously been reported that Apple plans to allow customers to purchase physical goods from other retailers through an iTunes account, just as can be done in Apple’s own retail stores using the Apple Store app. Just last week, Apple was said to be interviewing candidates from the payment services field.
Via Business Insider
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not true, my iTunes account isn’t linked to a credit card
Cook hasn’t said that all are, only that the majority are.
mine as well is not linked to a CC. My Amazon has 2 CCs…though 1 may be expired.
Reblogged this on Life is…. and commented:
Well positioned indeed…
I’m actually thinking apple should replace credit cards with this and not just push them. This is a great opportunity!
I have used at least 4-5 different VISA cards that I have bought online with small amounts in them to pay for iTunes Match and movies. I think a lot of people have done the same as well.
You can only have a single CC linked to the account…..
Apple is DoomedTM
Apple’s dominance in credit card enabled accounts is even more spectacular when you compare them to others:
Morgan Stanley had a few other comparisons from mid-2012 that help to flesh out this picture to illustrate just how dominant Apple is:
Revenue per user:
Apple = $329
Amazon = $305
eBay = $125
Netflix = $123
Zynga = $7
Pandora = $7
FaceBook = $5
Account Base (millions):
FaceBook = 1,056 (not credit-card enabled accounts so much less valuable)
Apple = 500 (remember these are 2012 figures)
Amazon = 200
Zynga = 180
Paypal = 123
ebay = 112
Pandora = 66
Netflix = 29
Account growth in 2012:
Apple = 55%
Pandora = 39%
Facebook = 25%
Amazon = 22%
Netflix = 20%
Paypal = 15%
ebay = 12%
Zynga = 10%
Free cash flow per account:
Apple = $95
ebay = $23
Amazon = $9
Facebook = 0
Pandora = 0
Zynga = -1
Netflix = -2
Thanks, Rocwurst – interesting reading!
Perhaps most interesting is Bloomberg reports how Google has failed spectacularly in this area.
After 3 years of spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to establish Google Wallet and NFC as the defacto standard for mobile payments, they managed a grand total of – wait for it:
50-100,000 users (!!!)
This has to be one of the Tech Industry’s greatest all-time failures and yet you don’t hear about it. Why is it that everything that Apple does (slightly less monstrous profits than analysts expected, flattening off of sales of the iPad freight train, etc) has Apple torn to shreds in the media.
However, at the same time Google gets a free pass on its spectacular, incomprehensible failures such as Google Wallet or the multi-billion dollar losses of Google’s Motorola subsidiary?
I do get tired of the double-standards in the media. :-(
Not to mention Google+ …