Yesterday, Tim Cook testified at the United States House antitrust judicial subcommittee hearing. The CEO defended the App Store commission and responded to other allegations regarding the company’s behavior towards the developers.
Yesterday, Tim Cook attended the antitrust hearing of the United States House judicial antitrust subcommittee. In addition to defending the App Store fees, the CEO responded to other allegations regarding the company’s behavior towards developers.
App Store Store fees
Apple has been accused by some developers of arbitrarily applying the rules of the App Store, modifying them as it pleases to benefit them at the expense of developers, both large and small.
In response, Cook said that Apple treats all developers equally , with open and transparent rules.
Cook has been questioned about reducing commissions for apps like Prime Video, but according to the CEO, these concessions are available for ” anyone who meets the conditions “. In addition, it emerged from some emails that companies wanted to bring the App Store fees to 40%.
Finally, he was also asked c dares to prevent Apple to potentially increase the fees of the App Store. The CEO said that there is a competition to attract developers, just as there is a competition to attract customers, comparing the developer battle with a ” street fight for market sharing “.
There is competition for developers, just as there is competition for customers. And so the competition for developers, they can write their apps for Android, Windows, Xbox or PlayStation. We have strong competition from developers and customers. In essence, it is so competitive that I would describe it as a street fight for market share in the smartphone sector.
Remove parental control app from the App Store
The CEO was also asked specifically about the parental control apps that had been removed from the App Store. Cook said the apps raised privacy concerns for children’s data, which led Apple to remove them and create its own parental control features that ensured the privacy of that data.
When informed of the problem, Cook pointed out that parental control apps are still present in the App Store and compete with the company’s features:
“The use of technology called MDM (Mobile Device Management) has put children’s data at risk. This enormous risk raised our concerns as we were concerned about the safety of children. Today there are over 30 parental controls (apps) on the App Store, so there is a lot of competition in this area. “
Cook’s statement is similar to what Apple released when the apps were removed:
“These apps used corporate technology that allowed them to access children’s highly sensitive personal data. We don’t think it’s correct for any app to help data companies track or optimize children’s advertising. ”
When reiterated that Apple has the power to exclude apps from the App Store or remove competing apps, Cook replied:
“Currently, there are over 1.7 million apps available in the App Store. It’s an economic miracle, we want to get all the apps we can on the App Store. ”
The Hey case
Cook has specifically questioned app email ” Hey ” Basecamp, which was to by a huge controversy earlier this year after Apple approved the app first and then threatened to remove it from the “App Store” because he was circumventing his in-app purchase rules.
When asked about the inconsistency between the approval of the app and subsequent disputes, Cook did not reveal many details, but only stated that the problem has been solved and that the app is present on the Store.
Hey, it’s in the App Store today and we’re happy it’s there. I believe they have a free version of their product, so they are not paying anything.
It is an economic miracle that the “App Store” allows a person in his basement to start a company and serve 170 countries around the world. I believe he is the highest job creator in the past decade.
Cook concludes by explaining that sometimes Apple makes mistakes given the volume of apps that are examined every week.
What do you think?
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