Apple is pressuring ByteDance and Tencent to close loopholes in China that divert customers to foreign payment systems to make in-app purchases. . Anyone who lives in the West knows the drill here. Apple wants a 30 percent commission.
The report indicates that this pressure campaign began in May. Apple has allegedly warned Tencent that it will deny important WeChat updates unless it removes the ability for users to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem. Tencent complied with the original request by releasing an update in July, but Apple went a step further.
WeChat hosts thousands of third-party mini-games and experiences. Apple has asked Tencent to disable in-game chat between creators and players, as this is another theoretical loophole that could lead users to third-party payment systems. Tencent has yet to agree to this request.
In June, Apple was reported to be doing something similar with ByteDance. It has threatened to halt updates to Douyin, essentially the Chinese version of TikTok, unless it creates some sort of loophole that would keep users away from the coveted 30 percent commission. according to BloombergByteDance has yet to respond officially.
These are aggressive moves by Apple. China is the world’s largest smartphone market, but the iPhone is not the dominant brand across the country. In fact, the phone didn’t crack the top five in sales last quarter, and the company has recently suffered a setback. There is a 6.5 percent decrease in profit.
It’s also worth noting that both ByteDance and Tencent aren’t happy corporate warriors looking for the little guy. These giants get their commissions from creators and probably didn’t want Apple to cut their revenue.
An Apple spokesperson was unusually blunt in his statement Bloomberg, simply to say that company guidelines dictate that all sales of digital goods must pass through its system, and that the review team has the authority to reject application submissions that violate this policy. Neither Tencent nor ByteDance would comment Bloomberg.
China, like the rest of the world, is breaking down walled gardens like Apple’s App Store. Despite the country’s reluctance to continue to allow closed ecosystems controlled by a single entity, Apple CEO Tim Cook is bullish on its prospects in China. “We continue to be confident in the long-term opportunity in China,” he said during the last earnings call. “I don’t know how every chapter of the book reads, but we’re very confident about the long-term outlook.”
Apple is opposite All over the world about Hungry Hungry Hippos’ approach to winning commissions. The European Commission has issued a ruling that dictates that app developers must be allowed to redirect users to payment systems and offers outside of the App Store. The company also faces potential fines from the EU . As for the US, Epic sued Apple and there are many other companies . It also doesn’t matter that Tencent owns a 40 percent stake in Epic Games.
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