Tech giant Apple will be launching its App Store, Apple Podcasts, iCloud, and Apple Music to additional markets across Africa, they’ll also be expanding to new countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. This will probably be the company’s biggest geographical expansions in recent years.
The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are now available in the following countries and regions:
- Africa: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zambia.
- Asia-Pacific: Maldives and Myanmar.
- Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.
- Middle East: Afghanistan (excluding Apple Music) and Iraq.
- Oceania: Nauru (excluding Apple Music), Tonga, and Vanuatu.
The best news comes from the company’s Apple Music service which is expanding to 52 new countries, bringing it to 167 total. Africa will be the. center of attraction with over two dozen additional countries from the continent being added to the service, tripling the number of nations in which it’s available on the continent.
We’re delighted to bring many of Apple’s most beloved services to users in more countries than ever before, We hope our customers can discover their new favorite apps, games, music, and podcasts as we continue to celebrate the world’s best creators, artists, and developers.
Said vp Apple Music and international content Oliver Schusser in a statement announcing the expansion.
According to Billboard, “The 52 new countries that will gain access to the Apple Music streaming service will enjoy free six-month trials, locally-curated playlists that focus on local music scenes and genres — Africa Now, Afrobeats Hits and Ghana Bounce were identified by the company in a press release as examples — and the artist-led programs and radio stations on Beats 1. Additionally, Beats 1 will now be broadcast in seven Middle Eastern countries that already had Apple Music: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Bahrain. Many of the countries included in the new expansion are also ones where there isn’t a truly established streaming economy, with the monetization of music, particularly digital music, not exactly strong. “
Below are the additional countries in which Apple Music will now become available.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia.
Asia-Pacific: Bhutan, Maldives, and Myanmar.
Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
Latin America and the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks, and Caicos and Uruguay.
Middle East: Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Yemen.
Oceania: Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Apple reportedly completed new global licensing deals with the three major record companies – Universal, Sony and Warner – in Q1 2020, which presumably covered Apple Music’s new territories.
