Apple CEO says Apple Pay Later will be launching “soon”
Apple has just announced its earnings report for the first fiscal quarter of 2023 and, as expected, the company missed the mark because its main factory in China had to be locked down because of Covid-19.
The company reported US$117.15 billion in revenue and a profit of US$29.99 billion. These are stunning numbers but they are 5% and 13% down respectively when compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also confirmed to CNBC that they hadn’t forgetten about Apple Pay Later and that it will launch “soon.” Cook said Apple employees are currently testing the feature.
Apple Pay Later was one of the key new features of iOS 16 and it would let users quickly and easily split their purchases into separate payments with zero interest and processing fees.
In addition, Apple is said to financing the loans for this new service itself. As reported back in June 2022, Apple has created a wholly-owned subsidiary called Apple Financing LLC that will check user credit and extend the short-term loans needed for Apple Pay Later.
The aim of Apple Pay Later is simple: to help more customers afford Apple products. This would in turn boost revenue and profit.
Furthermore, it allows Apple to dip their toes in the world of financial services, and if this takes off, it’s possible that it could extend larger loans in the future and charge interest and fees.
Given that the company is said to have around US$200 billion in cash on hand, it would be a relatively risk-free way to generate more revenue.
Source: MacRumors
