Roger Fingas
In the past few days, over 700 apps have reportedly been pulled from the Chinese App Store as the company tries to wrestle control of its most important app market.
Some examples include Pinduodo, an online retail app, and titles by Sogou, a Chinese equivalent to Google, The Telegraph said, citing local media. All of the apps are said to have violated App Store rules blocking companies from installing updates without delivering them through Apple's service.
Apple has been taking a hard stance on those rules for almost two years, so it's not clear what prompted the latest action. State media has however put pressure on Apple to control the App Store, and the government has periodically asked the company to censor apps such as VPN clients and The New York Times in order to smash dissent.
In August Apple culled some 25,000 Chinese apps, including about 4,000 related to gambling, which aren't permitted in that market.
The country is thought to account for nearly 40 percent of Apple's global app revenue, and in fact Apple is the only foreign app provider in China.
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
5 Comments
I wonder how long apple before Apple starts installing Chinese state mandated apps on its phone?
Hmm, my HSBC app is always doing in-app updates.
What a high-maintenance country, forever trying to stay one step ahead of crooked companies and government. Weeks or months later they will find another way to cheat the system.
While American courts are deciding whether to force Apple to allow third parties to sell apps to iPhone users, Chinese regulators are pressuring Apple to eliminate apps from third-party vendors. The former is aimed at giving consumers more choice and lower app prices, while the latter is aimed at reducing consumer choice and tightening control by government censors. Apple is navigating in a minefield!
One has to wonder how Apple leadership as well as rank and file employees reconcile their strong internal stance on ethics and behaviors within Apple and their supply chain versus working with governments that have no observable ethical boundaries. The incongruous nature of their relationship with China and Apple’s values as a company has to give migraines to anyone who thinks about the fractured logic of it.