Point being who know how many consumers decided not to sign up because they couldn’t do so in app. How many people said never mind I’ll sign up for Apple Music instead?
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EU Fines Apple $2 Billion for Anti-Competitive Behavior Toward Spotify
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rider share app isn't sustainable if a fee is applied. therefore exception is made to make native apps sustainable for those categories. the exception is about sustainability to provide a better user experience.
are you talking about some deal apple has with Microsoft to bring office to iPad? I don't recall them disclosing any details so I don't know where you're getting the idea they don't pay Apple anything.
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I wonder how much engineering effort went into fixing Spotify code bugs, versus identifying iOS bugs (or API misuse due to Apple's crappy documentation), and how much help Apple engineers provided to Spotify for their Windows, Android, and web apps? Because that's sure what Apple is making it sound like here!
your comparison breaks down at “you pay rent”. Spotify pays $0 to Apple (except maybe $99 for the developer account).
That's the wrong inference, because obviously you will primarily find users who managed to sign up as paying customers in the data since Spotify removed the ability to take out a subscription directly, as you say. That means anyone who wanted to subscribe, but couldn't, just wouldn't show up in the data at all.
I don't know what analysis Spotify, Apple or the European Commission, for that matter, have done to quantify the economic harm. Maybe the decision was taken on principle alone, but Spotify seems to think that not being able to point consumers to their website disadvantages them vs Apple Music, which not only comes preinstalled but also lets consumers subscribe directly.
Whether this is actually the case we can all just speculate. Maybe it really doesn't matter considering Spotify's market share, but equally maybe Apple Music is only as successful as it is because it's so easy and straightforward to sign up for. Do we know how well Apple Music does on Android? This could give us an indication.
Spotify launched its service before the smartphone era. How big would their business be if they had limited their app to desktop/laptop operating systems and not branched out to smartphones?
It could be Costco has higher margins than Sam’s club and Sam’s club sells it cheaper. But post can’t print that on the cereal box due to prior agreement.
Hopefully the EU goes after Google and Spotify next for being dominant behemoths in their markets. And then Samsung.
Let's face it, the EU wants to eliminate large companies and get rich by penalizing them.
Spotify has the big market share, time to make them pay $3B to the EU. Equivalence based on simple percentages.
Time to get a new email address since Gmail won't be around much longer. Maybe AOL. They are small. /s
Let's face it, the EU wants to eliminate large companies and get rich by penalizing them.
Spotify has the big market share, time to make them pay $3B to the EU. Equivalence based on simple percentages.
Time to get a new email address since Gmail won't be around much longer. Maybe AOL. They are small. /s
If you didn’t know, Spotify did lose its case against Apple in the US. So it is legally defensible. Also the EU commission can still be challenged in EU courts. Let’s see how it goes.
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I am talking about the fact that Microsoft doesn't let you subscribe in the App, yet they could afford the 30% fee, therefore Apple doesn't just make exceptions for categories that wouldn't be sustainable without the exception.
What percentage would use an in-app link if one existed? A question we have no answer for.
Again, just because something works doesn't mean it isn't inconvenient.
How likely is it that a smartphone user who didn't see a way to sign up via the app would just give up and never sign up via the internet? It's not the 1990s. The internet and web sites are well known to consumers. The Netflix app and the Amazon Kindle app were also successful in using the same approach.
Does this mean the EU will fully fund Ukraine in its efforts to fend off Russia?
Which would also be better apps if I could buy books and a Netflix subscription from within the app...
Why do you want to defend this rule?
This rule doesn't make Apple money (because the Apps would rather abide by it (and sue Apple in the EU) than pay Apple)
This rule doesn't make consumers safer (they subscribe or purchase books on the web anyway)
This rule only makes these app's less convenient - it doesn't help Apple, users, or developers.
I don't have any data to tell one way or another, but Apple certainly seems to think that it works in their favour in some shape or form.
If it really was so inconsequential, why not let companies point to their websites without allowing alternative in-app payment options?
Your answer will be whether or not Spotify reintroduces in-app payments once the link is allowed via DMA. Paying in-app would be more convenient but it's much more likely that Spotify will continue to prevent in-app payments while including the link/communications.
They don't just have to wait for the DMA, the order handed down today also requires Apple to allow Spotify to link from within their app.
I just think it's too narrow to suggest that Apple's App Store is the only place in town, especially now that alternative iOS app stores and sideloading will be available in the EU. That doesn't mean they shouldn't still face antitrust fines/litigation when they engage in anticompetitive behavior.
I think Spotify (and others) should be able to "advertise" alternative subscription options in their App Store app similar to how companies advertise alternatives on/in their product packaging sold at retail stores.
You would be surprised how nonchalant people can be. Some people don’t go to stores that don’t use apple pay for example. Some people don’t buy something online if they have to register an account, give credit card info, phone number etc. People are very picky, so in a large market where people couldn’t be bothered to to go to a website Spotify did lose customers.
Okay, but if Spotify doesn't reintroduce in-app payments then you can't make an argument about lower convenience = harm to consumers. In-app payments would be more convenient and Spotify is intentionally eliminating that option for monetary reasons of their own.
