Brief:
- Apple updated its Clips video-editing app for the iPhone and iPad with new features and content inspired by Disney animated films such as "The Incredibles 2" and "Coco," according to a blog post. The update includes more filters, posters, stickers, text labels, soundtracks and "selfie scenes," which are 360-degree animated backgrounds that work with Apple's TrueDepth camera technology.
- The new filters include aged film, a monochrome watercolor painting and a black-and-white comic book, while the new posters have themes like science, sports and silent movies. Users can add music to their videos from a library of 17 royalty-free soundtracks.
- Clips is a video-editing app designed to let users combine several video clips, images and photos with voice-based titles, music, filters and graphics to create videos that can be shared on social media.
Insight:
Apple's update to Clips is its latest integration with Disney following its introduction last year of selfie scenes to the Clips app that featured "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" content. The collaboration points to how other brands could create selfie screens, posters and filters for the Apple app, presenting another source of services revenue as the company attempts to reach CEO Tim Cook's annual goal of $50 billion in services revenue by 2020. Services revenue is increasingly important for Apple as sales of iPhones have softened, leading the company to no longer report unit sales.
The Clips update is part of the company's broader introduction of its latest software, including fresh versions of iMovie, iWork and GarageBand. Apple released the software updates as the tech giant releases its full hardware lineup in time for the holiday buying season. Apple last week hosted a media event to introduce a new MacBook Air, Mac Mini and updated iPad models. Its lower-priced iPhone XR also arrived in stores on Oct. 26, a month after the flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max went on sale.
It remains to be seen how Apple's fresh hardware and software will translate into sales, especially as the smartphone market matures and Chinese tech suppliers gain more global reach. Apple sold 46.89 million iPhones in its fourth quarter, with unit volume that was flat compared to a year earlier. The numbers disappointed analysts, who had expected 47.5 million iPhones to be sold during the quarter. Still, revenue rose 29% due to higher-priced iPhones.
