On August 26, Apple stated in a press release that it had reached a settlement with small developers who initiated a class action lawsuit and formulated a new policy that allows developers to bypass Apple’s in-app purchases and support small developers. However, Apple's new measures did not satisfy everyone.
A few days ago, streaming music giant Spotify said on Twitter that Apple’s policy adjustments this time did not solve any core issues in its anti-competitive behavior.
In 2019, Spotify complained to EU regulators that Apple has been suppressing and restricting its competitors in the field of streaming media through various methods. Music has the advantage. For example, for third-party music services, part of the user's payment will be divided into Apple, and Apple's own Apple Music does not need to pay this fee. In this way, the status of the two in the competition is unequal.
When the App Store was just born, it provided a large number of small and medium-sized developers with an application distribution platform. The three-to-seven split mechanism largely encouraged the emergence of a large number of high-quality applications. In the beginning, Apple was relatively restrained in application development, avoiding direct competition with third-party applications.
But now, Apple has made major strategic adjustments,Use applications and services as an important means to broaden the scope of revenue. Apple's continued deep cultivation in the content field will inevitably form competition with developers, especially giant content providers.
In addition to Apple Music and Spotify, Apple TV+ and Netflix have also formed a competition. For its own applications, Apple can promote and increase exposure through preset system applications, App Store homepage recommendations, and even direct message pushes.
At this stage, under the antitrust pressure, Apple’s main strategy is to buy and differentiate small and medium-sized developers and strive to harden giant developers. Judging from related reports, most small and medium-sized developers have a high acceptance of 15% or even 30% of the share ratio. On the contrary, the giant developers are not willing to give up 30% of their profits.
Xiaolei personally feels that the closedness of the iOS system and the uniqueness of the App Store are to a large extent an important part of the excellent iPhone experience. But at the same time, Apple's practice of being both a referee and an athlete does harm the competition. If the regulatory part can require Apple to exempt competitors from the apple tax, it may be a relatively acceptable plan.
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