Originally Posted by
ScottC
So bottom line - apps can't link to their own signup page without offering the same option within the Apple infrastructure? So, a Netflix app can't say "click here to subscribe" and send people to netflix.com if they don't offer the same option through the app store (and lose 30% of their profit)?
I know I'm a bit of an Apple hater in this forum, but surely this can't be a good thing for companies? Credit card fees for a company like Netflix are probably 2-3%, and now suddenly someone wants 30%.
And while I agree that Apple and iOS devices have been a huge boost for many companies, this really does change things for how they do business. It'll be interesting to see how many just bend over and take it, or whether any actually have the balls to tell Apple to .... ...
For some companies, it's a very good thing. You don't have to build and maintain your own subscription billing system - you can let Apple deal with all that for you. For people that own their own content, it's probably closer to a wash - pay 30% to Apple, or pay a small percentage to your CC processor and pay for maintaining your own payment system. For resellers of content, it bites, because you're loosing all your margin.
It'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out. I think some resellers (like Amazon) will eventually be able to negotiate a smaller cut to Apple.
The flip side of this is that the system is VERY pro-consumer, especially given that you have to specifically opt-in before Apple will share your info (email, zip code, etc) with the content provider. That has the publishing industry steaming at the ears, because they think they're entitled to that marketing info.
joe