Japan antitrust regulator to increase scrutiny of Apple's App Store
Japan's antitrust authority this week said it will keep a watchful eye over Apple's App Store practices, a decision reportedly prompted by the tech giant's high-profile battle with Epic Games.
Apple's Marunouchi store in Tokyo, Japan.
While the Japan Fair Trade Commission failed to go so far as to launch an official investigation into App Store guidelines, the body said it will pay closer attention to Apple's business, reports Bloomberg. What processes and oversight measures that level of scrutiny entails is unknown.
Alongside government pressure, a handful of game makers in the region are speaking out against Apple's management of the App Store, though the movement appears to be more about communication and developer relations than compulsory fees.
"Apple's app review is often ambiguous, subjective and irrational. Apple's response to developers is often curt and boilerplate, but even with that, you must be polite on many occasions, like a servant asking the master what he wants next," Makoto Shoji told Bloomberg. Shoji is founder of PrimeTheory Inc., a company that markets a service called iOS Reject Rescue to help developers navigate the App Store approval process.
Japan is home to some of the gaming industry's biggest names, including Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Sony. Square Enix, known for its "Final Fantasy" series, sees 40% of its group revenue generated by smartphone app sales, according to the report.
Developers in Japan are familiar with Apple's revenue sharing model, which takes a 30% slice of in-app purchases, as a similar practice was adopted by Nintendo in the 1980s. Most app makers do not mind the fee, but expect better service from a company of Apple's caliber, the report said.
Some app firms find Apple's App Store procedures opaque and problematic, especially when compared to Google's Android Play Store. Compared to Apple, Google's approval process is "smoother" and the search giant better communicates what is needed. Some complain of weeks-long review periods, a delay that can be costly for apps promoting seasonal events.
"While Apple will never admit it, I think there are times when they simply forget an item's in the review queue or they intentionally keep it untouched as a sanction to a developer giving them the wrong attitude," said Shoji.
Others note uneven and, in some cases, contradictory application and enforcement of App Store rules.
For its part, Apple said it works to provide the high-quality support to the Japanese development community through some 1,400 advisers and customer service employees based in the country. Further, the company's app review team operates across two time zones and makes Japanese-speaking representatives available by phone.
The efforts are not enough for some. Developers in the region decry Apple's handling of the App Store as the iPhone maker wades through a high-profile legal fight with Epic Games.
Epic in August baited Apple into removing popular battle royale title "Fortnite" from the App Store by implementing a direct payment feature that violated App Store guidelines. After the game's removal, Epic launched a lawsuit and marketing campaign in protest of Apple's 30% cut of in-app purchases and restrictions against third-party app stores.
Apple terminated Epic's developer account last week while the parties await a hearing scheduled for September.
Epic's actions have emboldened Japanese developers. As noted by Bloomberg, founder and chairman of Gumi Inc., Hironao Kunimitsu, risked retribution in a Facebook post, saying, "I want from the bottom of my heart Epic to win."
Apple's Marunouchi store in Tokyo, Japan.
While the Japan Fair Trade Commission failed to go so far as to launch an official investigation into App Store guidelines, the body said it will pay closer attention to Apple's business, reports Bloomberg. What processes and oversight measures that level of scrutiny entails is unknown.
Alongside government pressure, a handful of game makers in the region are speaking out against Apple's management of the App Store, though the movement appears to be more about communication and developer relations than compulsory fees.
"Apple's app review is often ambiguous, subjective and irrational. Apple's response to developers is often curt and boilerplate, but even with that, you must be polite on many occasions, like a servant asking the master what he wants next," Makoto Shoji told Bloomberg. Shoji is founder of PrimeTheory Inc., a company that markets a service called iOS Reject Rescue to help developers navigate the App Store approval process.
Japan is home to some of the gaming industry's biggest names, including Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Sony. Square Enix, known for its "Final Fantasy" series, sees 40% of its group revenue generated by smartphone app sales, according to the report.
Developers in Japan are familiar with Apple's revenue sharing model, which takes a 30% slice of in-app purchases, as a similar practice was adopted by Nintendo in the 1980s. Most app makers do not mind the fee, but expect better service from a company of Apple's caliber, the report said.
Some app firms find Apple's App Store procedures opaque and problematic, especially when compared to Google's Android Play Store. Compared to Apple, Google's approval process is "smoother" and the search giant better communicates what is needed. Some complain of weeks-long review periods, a delay that can be costly for apps promoting seasonal events.
"While Apple will never admit it, I think there are times when they simply forget an item's in the review queue or they intentionally keep it untouched as a sanction to a developer giving them the wrong attitude," said Shoji.
Others note uneven and, in some cases, contradictory application and enforcement of App Store rules.
For its part, Apple said it works to provide the high-quality support to the Japanese development community through some 1,400 advisers and customer service employees based in the country. Further, the company's app review team operates across two time zones and makes Japanese-speaking representatives available by phone.
The efforts are not enough for some. Developers in the region decry Apple's handling of the App Store as the iPhone maker wades through a high-profile legal fight with Epic Games.
Epic in August baited Apple into removing popular battle royale title "Fortnite" from the App Store by implementing a direct payment feature that violated App Store guidelines. After the game's removal, Epic launched a lawsuit and marketing campaign in protest of Apple's 30% cut of in-app purchases and restrictions against third-party app stores.
Apple terminated Epic's developer account last week while the parties await a hearing scheduled for September.
Epic's actions have emboldened Japanese developers. As noted by Bloomberg, founder and chairman of Gumi Inc., Hironao Kunimitsu, risked retribution in a Facebook post, saying, "I want from the bottom of my heart Epic to win."
Comments
Knockoff iPhones exist. That's the problem. People will just flock to stolen technology.
The big problem with Epic, and a few other dev companies, is that they are trying to brain wash the consumers into believing that what’s best for the devs is also best for the consumers. And since dev companies now unite around a common cause, while all consumers are still scattered individuals, the pressure to tilt the App Store balance is now in an unhealthy favor to the devs.
I think it’s time somebody not from the dev industry began uniting consumers around the question of App Store, so we get a healthy debate on the topic — not just babies crying for more money.
The one thing that always makes me shake my head in these scenarios is the hypocrisy and jettisoning of so-called values and ideologies that always occurs when individuals and groups are faced with a dominant entity who has learned how to exploit the very same values and ideologies that these same individual and groups purport to be essential. For example, the very same folks who cry for a free market and an opportunity for a winner-take-all reward for those who risk it all suddenly backtrack when an actual big-time winner, like Apple or Google, emerges and gains a dominant position and reaps its bounty. The same goes for those who rail against government "handouts" but are totally cool about handouts that are placed into their own hands.
Ideology provides plenty of fodder for bloviated posturing, but pragmatism is a the neutralizer that strips it all away and exposes our true human selves. We should all just fess up to our human frailties and admit that, at some level, we're all just in it for ourselves and that most our ideologies and values just cannot hold up to the pressure of either personal sacrifice or personal reward.
Had they reduced their cut during WWDC this year, even if just by 10%, they'd have likely offset the near universal condemnation and negative press that they have received and are going to continue to receive.
I do not feel for Epic one bit in this and do not see them as some white knight. In this fight, both exemplify corporate greed at its finest.