FBR's Dan Ives Believes Apple Music Is 'Off To A Solid Start'

• Apple Inc. AAPL shares are down 18 percent since July 20, when they touched a high of $132.
• FBR & Co’s Daniel H. Ives maintained an Outperform rating on the company.
• The company has made good progress on the Apple Music front and is likely to launch a streaming service in 2016, Ives said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company has 6.5 million paying customers for Apple Music, with another 8.5 million customers on three-month trial subscriptions, taking the total to 15 million.

See Also: Tim Cook Says Apple TV Will Be Available Next Week; Touts 15 Million Apple Music Subs

“This is the first time that Apple has given numbers around this key streaming initiative, launched at the end of June,” analyst Daniel Ives said. He added that the company is expected to unveil a streaming TV service in 2016.

Ives believes that Apple now needs to convert the trial customers to paying customers, besides adding unique content and services.

“Apple is laser-focused on gaining significant market share on this front over the coming year,” the FBR & Co report added.

Shares of Apple closed Monday at $111.73.