Apple's recent introduction of new in-app subscription rules that make it much simpler for users to subscribe to content from within the app is just the latest in a series of changes that Apple has been making to the way the App Store operates since its launch in 2008.
The new system allows app developers to set up recurring payment plans for iPad/iPhone/iPod apps, and ensures that developers who want to sell subscriptions use iTunes in addition to selling subscriptions via their own channels.
Via a press release Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "Ail we reguire is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app" Sounds fair enough to me.
But some publishers responded negatively - and vocally - to the new rules Apple seemed to be applying all of a sudden.
Two common issues have been raised. Margin pressure (ie, we can't afford to give Apple a 30 percent cut!) and access to the valuable subscriber information, to which, apparently, publishers feel entitled.
['rouble is, when you are a participant on a privately run commercial platform (like the App Store) there are no entitlements, except if you're the platform owner. The App Store platform is fundamentally different to the internet that no one party controls if.
Today the App Store is the only mass digital platform (except for the Internet, where publishers struggle to sell content) with the proven ability to monetise custorr>ers, so the only real option if you're a publisher who doesn't like the rules is to walk away. And good luck to any publisher who is willing to abandon a platform with 200 million customers with pre-filled credit card information.
The new system allows app developers to set up recurring payment plans for iPad/iPhone/iPod apps, and ensures that developers who want to sell subscriptions use iTunes in addition to selling subscriptions via their own channels.
Via a press release Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "Ail we reguire is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app" Sounds fair enough to me.
But some publishers responded negatively - and vocally - to the new rules Apple seemed to be applying all of a sudden.
Two common issues have been raised. Margin pressure (ie, we can't afford to give Apple a 30 percent cut!) and access to the valuable subscriber information, to which, apparently, publishers feel entitled.
['rouble is, when you are a participant on a privately run commercial platform (like the App Store) there are no entitlements, except if you're the platform owner. The App Store platform is fundamentally different to the internet that no one party controls if.
Today the App Store is the only mass digital platform (except for the Internet, where publishers struggle to sell content) with the proven ability to monetise custorr>ers, so the only real option if you're a publisher who doesn't like the rules is to walk away. And good luck to any publisher who is willing to abandon a platform with 200 million customers with pre-filled credit card information.
As research for this article I subscribed to The Daily, the iPod-only newspaper from News Ltd that asks users to subscribe for either a week for $ 1.19, or for an entire year for $47.99. The subscription process was silky smooth, one click, an opt-out of providing my detail to News and I was done. Unsubscribing was just as easy.
The trick to making the App Store work financially is not to think about it replicating existing or already lost income streams (hello music industry). It's to re-work the business to a point where the revenue the new platform will provide can cover costs. Even if that approach proves successful, in most cases costs will need to be reduced
Some publishers have realised this already and are taking a positive approach to doing business on the App Store. But, like it or not, change is inevitable
Consumers will no longer tolerate badly designed, partially functional apps. Nor will they tolerate mediocre content There are too many great apps with great content available elsewhere.
Apple is, and always will be, a customer focused company That's part of the reason it's been so successful for so long. Apple first, customer second, everyone else third. That's the way it is. The consideration of whether In-app subscriptions are right or wrong needs to be understood from that context and no other
PRODUCTIVITY
& PROTECTION... For your touch devices
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