APPLE'S USER BASE GROWS

IN ITS quarterly earning report on Thursday, Apple Inc gave the first update in two years on what it calls its active installed base, the number of major products such as-

iPhones, iPads and Macs it use in the world. Apple said the base expanded 30 percent from two years ago to 1.3 billion.

That increase should have been seen as positive because Apple aims to become less dependent on  selling iPhones and shift to selling its existing customer services like Apple Music or add on devices like the Apple Watch or AirPods.

But analysts voiced skepticism.

Apple's best-selling product, the iPhone, has seen relatively flat over the same two-year period.

On Apple's earnings conference call, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said that the combination of trend implies users are hanging to their devices longer, and he asked Apple Chief Executive officer Tim Cook whether investors should be worried about that.

Cook responded that it was up to investors to decide what to focus on, but said he was comfortable with customers buying used iPhones.

When customers sell their old  iPhone for a new one, the old iPhone ''winds with another customer somewhere else that is perfectly fine with with having a previously owned iPhone.

And so I view all of that to be incredibly positive. It's more people on iPhones, the better,'' Cook said.

Laura Martin of Needham & Co pressed Cook on whether the larger device base meant more devices per user, or more users -an important question, because a user with both an iPad and iPhone is likely to only purchase Apple Music subscription, for example.

Cook said, ''there are many, many, many more''  Apple users than two years ago but declined to give an actual figure.

[Agencies]