Apple has once again given in to the App Store commission dispute with Chinese internet giant Tencent. Instead of banning updates to its most important application, WeChat, it was approved again last weekend – presumably to enable preparations for the iPhone 16, which will be presented this Monday.
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The “super app” could stay
Tencent submitted the update last week. Among other things, it adds “WeChat Moments”, reminiscent of a similar feature in Instagram, as well as a live streaming function. There had previously been speculation that Apple might no longer allow “super app” WeChat. Depending on the size of the sale, the group wants 15 or 30 percent of revenue from app sales, in-app payments and subscriptions, as long as it involves digital content. However, this is not yet the case for the hugely popular mini-apps and mini-games, which have millions of users on WeChat, called Weixin in the Chinese native.
In other markets, Apple is tough as nails and has been arguing with Epic Games in court for years. However, given WeChat’s importance in the Chinese market, the group is likely to hesitate. “The approval would end speculation in China that WeChat could be excluded from the latest iPhones because of a dispute between the US company and China’s biggest company over App Store fees,” writes financial news agency Bloomberg. First reported Is.
Users live in Weixin
For many people in China, WeChat/Weixin serves as the central application on their smartphone. You don’t just communicate with the service, you make appointments with companies and officials, pay using QR codes at most shops (which no longer accept cash nor, increasingly, credit cards) and play a lot. Along with mini-games, WeChat links to the web and allows external payment services – Apple would like Tencent to block these so it can make money. Apple also wants to ban in-game messaging altogether, which is also how it works. But Tencent rejected this on the grounds that it would be “too harsh”.
Talks are apparently continuing internally despite the update approval. Apple is interested in a deal. Tencent would apparently want a share in Apple’s commission. “We want to make this possible under conditions that we consider economically sustainable and fair,” he said. Head of Strategy at Tencent in August. The issue affects not just Tencent and WeChat/Weixin, but also TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and the Chinese TikTok offshoot Douyin. Here, too, Apple feels it has the advantage as commissions flow through to other payment methods.
(B.Sc.)
