Seems that Apple have given publishers notice (from 1 July 2011) that they will now be forcing subscriptions to run through the Apple Store/ iTunes.
Apple will charge any entity who runs a subscription for iPhones (iOS) 30% for the privilege of being listed on their store. They can still sell their app elsewhere, but it must also be offered within the App store for the same price or better and Apple gets their 30% cut.
Read this article for more information on Apple’s proposed iTunes and App Store merchant costs but what is really interesting is the comments going back and forth. There are a lot of interesting points of view.
Some are:
- Its more consumer centric because users get all apps offered in the one place
- Apple offer payment gateway and promotional opportunities to their publishers
- Microsoft, Nokia and others don’t charge publishers to run apps or products on their platforms
- 30% is a very steep commission or an acquisition, pushing many publishers of App content out of the market
- Apple don’t offer any hosting or mobile network data plans to assist, they only manage the initial transaction
- The subscription content is produced completely free for apple, they’re just a shop front, its too steep.
I’m an Apple fan but I can’t help but think they’re a little greedy. They already have a huge portion of the market share and they may be protecting themselves against future competitors but it also just seems to go against the values of the internet and content sharing.
I’m all for business, but Apple has had a lot of good karma, hard earned, well deserved, a long time coming, but that doesn’t mean that you need to cut the rug out from under the people that are supporting and promoting your business.
What do you think?