GoKawiilWe noted yesterday that Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which began in New York, were moving on to China. CEO Tim Cook was spotted at a celebratory event in Chengdu.
Unfortunately for the company, the party atmosphere has been rather dampened by a dispute with the Chinese government …
Pressure on Apple started ahead of the visit, with the iPhone maker announcing last week that it was reducing its standard commission on App Store purchases from 30% to 25% in mainland China. The company said at the time that this move followed “discussions” with the Chinese regulator.
Apple may have hoped that would be an end to the matter, but a Bloomberg report suggests otherwise.
After the announcement, Chinese ruling party’s flagship newspaper called for Apple to further ease App Store restrictions and fix “monopolistic” practices. The frank editorial underscored how Apple, which has clashed with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. over its iOS App Store policies, may continue to face pressure from Beijing.
Antitrust regulators in Europe have forced Apple to allow third-party app stores and to open up the NFC chip in iPhones for use by competitors to Apple Wallet. Bloomberg suggests that China may now be seeking the same concessions.
[Apple is] under pressure to open up its platform to facilitate third-party payments and external links for digital purchases [and] the antitrust watchdog has been examining the company’s policies in taking a cut on in-app spending and barring external payment services and stores.
9to5Mac’s Take
What should have been a celebration in China instead seems to be highlighting the company’s uneasy relationship with the government there.
Chinese authorities are doubtless unimpressed by Apple’s growing moves to reduce its manufacturing dependence on the country, and may have deliberately chosen this moment to express their displeasure.
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