Apple Buys Texture To Extend magazine subscription service

In a bid to extend its subscription services beyond music and online storage, Apple has purchased digital magazine distributor Texture, putting apple in control of the services.

Often described as a Netflix of magazines, Texture allows readers to read articles in more than 200 magazines for USD $10 per month, much like Netflix sells unlimited access to its video programming.

But Texture hasn't proven as popular as Netflix, which boasts 55 million subscribers in the U.S. alone. Texture hasn't specified how many subscribers it has, but CEO John Loughlin said in a 2016 interview that the number ranged in the "hundreds of thousands."

Apple didn't disclose how much it paid for Texture, which had raised at least $90 million since it was founded nearly a decade ago as Next Issue. The magazine distributor had been owned by investors that included Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Rogers Media, and KKR.

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services said, "We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.”

In addition to the iPhone and iPad, Texture will be available on devices powered by Google's Android software.

Texture will join a stable of Apple subscription options that are anchored by the company's music-screaming service, which has 36 million subscribers. Apple also sells additional storage in its iCloud service to customers who exceed the free limit of five gigabytes.