cropr

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cropr
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  • EU questions whether Apple has changed anything after its $1.95 billion fine

    croprcropr
    rob53 said:
    As I've said many times before, people have plenty of choices on what products they want to buy. If you don't like Apple's way of doing things go with an Android platform or demand a company in the EU to build a new platform. Just because Apple's platform is the one many people want to use doesn't mean the EU has any right to tell Apple what to do. If you don't like what Apple is doing, find another platform. It's just like wine. If you don't want to pay for wine made in the EU, then grow your own, which the USA has done. 
    As I've said many times before, the current issue is not about users having choice, it is about  the ant-competitive laws that are applicable in the EU.  These laws are one of the cornerstones of EU, going back to the founding of the EU.   The anti-competitve laws are mainly there to protect smaller companies from the power abuse of larger companies.

    And the ant-steering rule that Apple was imposing in its App Store guidelines to tthe app developers, is without discussion (even Apple acknowledges it now) a schoolbook example of anti-competitive behaviour.

    It remains a big question mark whether the 27% cut rule Apple is using now iso. the anti-steering rule, will not be considered as anti-competitive.

    In case you wonder, the EU anti-competitive laws are applied evenly strictly to large EU companies.  AB Inbev, the Belgian brewer who owns Budweiser, got also a huge fine for anti-competitive behaviour.   If Apple want to do business in the EU, it must comply to these EU laws.

    sphericmuthuk_vanalingamgatorguy

  • Apple updates rules surrounding EU DMA compliance to address developer concerns

    croprcropr
    omasou said:
    A maze of red tape to make it prohibitive.  An alternative app store on macOS requires no interaction or input from Apple at all.  An example is MacPorts.  The real answer here is customers demanding app freedom on iOS and iPadOS from Apple and voting with their dollars if Apple doesn't deliver.  The same app freedoms should exist on iOS/iPadOS as has existed on macOS since 1984: 'sideloading' allowed.  The very term 'sideloading' is itself a loaded term that presumes an authority that Apple doesn't have, control of YOUR device.  It is your device not Apple's.  You should be able to load on it whatever app you darn well please.   That is still true on the Mac.  It should be true for iPhones too.
    What customers are demanding app freedom? The only one's that care are the greedy app publishers.

    People seem to forget past development costs.
    • Developer accounts were way more than $99.
    • Documentation was in the form of expensive books
    • Distribution required duplicating discs, then CDs and today web sites, etc.
    • Advertising is never cheap
    Today...

    • Developer accounts are relatively inexpensive at $99
    • Documentation is free.
    • Distribution & Advertising
    • Yes, today you can stand up a web site, not free.
    • Yes, you can use an alternative app store, also not free.
    • Oh, you plan to use social media to advertise...good luck only works, if people know you exist.
     Hopefully, we'll see a migration of a lot of the junk apps to these other stores. It will only server to improve the value of Apple's app store search.
    I started to develop for iOS in 2011.  I have deloped 7 iOS apps, with only 1 app still active.  

    When the App Store was launched in 2008, I was a developer of some Linux applications.  At that time:
    • Online downloading was already the main method of distributing software.  In fact I never produced a CD.   My Linux applications could be downloaded from my website.
    • The hosting of my website costed 39 Euro a year, not really expensive 
    • Documentation was online and free, the concept of developer accounts simply did not exists for Linux
    • I had to do my advertising myself, like I am doing my advertising for my iOS apps myself.  A survey with my customers of my active iOS app has revealed that my customers found my app because of my marketing actions, not because my app was listed among the millions of other iOS app in the App Store.
    • My website (my preferred store for all my software) is free of junk apps, something you cannot say of the Apple App Store
    From the perpective of a developer the App Store experience is below par. Managing my app is overcomplicated and it is easier to find my iOS app via a Google search than via the App Store search function.  And that says it all

    muthuk_vanalingam

  • EU antitrust chief remarks about $2 billion Apple Music fine ignores Spotify dominance

    croprcropr
    blastdoor said:
    And the iPhone has a much lower market share than android in Europe, too. 

    If apple’s HQ were in Paris I bet the EU would treat them very differently.
    Just for information.    AB Inbev, the world largest brewer, received in 2019 a huge fine from the EU commission for anti competitive practices.  AB Inbev is a Belgian company with headquarters located roughly 15 miles from the EU commission offices. So no, Apple (or any big  American company) is not targeted because it is American, but because it is considered to behave anti competitive.  Whether the latter is true is up to EU court of justice to decide.
    gatorguymuthuk_vanalingamspheric

  • Most apps with subscriptions fail to make more than $1,000 per month

    croprcropr
    I am owning an app development and the company has developed 7 apps for the App Store.  

    Giving you some figures.  The initial development of a single app costs between $50K and $100K.  Maintaining an app costs about $10K per year. 5 of my apps were still loss making after 2 years and have been abandoned.  1 app reached about break even, but the cost of maintenance would be higher than the additional income and has been abandoned as well.

    The only app that is profitable is an electronic voting app for general assemblies for corporations and large non profit organisations.  The business model is event based.   The organisation pays  a fixed fee per general assembly per invited member/shareholder.   Moving to a subscription based model does not really makes business sense here.

    The app was originally not a native i\OS app, but a PWA (progressive web app).  On request of our customers we made  a native app for the members/shareholders casting their votes.  The iOS app, as well as the Android version, is free of charge

    Managing the election by the board of the organisation is still a web based only app.  This app includes the payment. As such we don't pay the Apple tax.  If you think that is not fair, think about the other 6 apps, where Apple made a decent profit while we lost money and think about our continuous investment  in Apple hardware (Macs + iPhones  + iPads) we need for the development and maintenance of the apps.  But don't think we attracted additional customers thanks to the availability of the iOS app.  A customer survey made clear we only have customers as a result of our own marketing efforts
        




    muthuk_vanalingamappleinsideruser

  • Apple kickstarted 5G and now 2 billion smartphones have it

    croprcropr
    I think the kickstart of 5G has very little to do with the availability of the handsets, but much more with the global availability with the 5G network infrestructure.   Rolling out a nation wide 5G network is much more challenging (and costly) than to integrate a 5G modem of Qualcomm in a phone

    Apple sold a lot of iPhones 12 with 5G and that is great for Apple, but this has more to do with the brand name Apple, than with 5G.  Apple would have sold roughly the same number of iPhones 12 if the phone did not have 5G. 

    It only make business sense for the handset manufacturors to add 5G functionality to their handsets if the network coverage of 5G is big enough.  And that was in 2020, despite the fact that a some premium Android handsets had 5G in 2019.


    muthuk_vanalingamtmay