Claire Holubowskyj of Enders Analysis told Insider: "Removing the friction from using BNPL in-store will be an important differentiator for consumers, particularly as in-store retail continues to return post-pandemic, and will give Apple a leg up on competitors."
She said Apple won't be expecting a mass uptake of the offering given how fragmented the market is and how late they are to the party. Rolling out Apple Pay Later in one market will limit the risk by allowing the company to "assess performance and reevaluate if necessary," Holubowskyj added.
She pointed that Apple has a very healthy balance sheet will tens of billions of cash on hand. Neither is it suffering from the same over-hiring problem as other prominent tech companies.