In context: Apple's paid news service reportedly attracted more than 200,000 subscribers in its first two days. It's a healthy start to yet another service-based product for the California-based technology giant as it continues to diversify its income stream.

Apple's premium news subscription service is off to a hot start. Two sources familiar with the company's numbers told The New York Times that more than 200,000 people subscribed to Apple News+ in the first 48 hours of availability.

That's more subscribers than digital magazine app Texture managed to amass at its peak. Apple, if you recall, acquired the digital magazine service for an undisclosed sum last year. It serves as the basis for the new Apple News+.

Texture recently announced that its final day of service will be May 28, 2019. A post on the company's website encouraged users to turn to Apple News+ to continue reading their favorite magazines.

Apple announced its revamped subscription news service at a March 25 media event. For $9.99 per month, subscribers get access to more than 300 periodicals, the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. Notably, The New York Times and The Washington Post did not join despite "intense lobbying from Apple."

Mark Thompson, chief executive at The New York Times, said his disinterest in the app stemmed from the fact that it "jumbled different news sources into these superficially attractive mixtures" that make it difficult for readers to know which publication a story is coming from. A spokesperson for The Washington Post simply said they are interested in growing their own subscriber base.

Lead image courtesy Jim Wilson via The New York Times.