Shows that greedy Apple has received "buying money" has been suspected of illegal

Fang Xingdong

As one of the world's most valuable companies in the global market, as well as high-tech companies with a large number of loyal fans in China and the world, Apple's innovation myth disappeared as Jobs died and began to show greed.

If we say that, one month ago, WeChat should have asked Apple to close the Public Channel iOS channel to play the reward function. It was just a misunderstanding that Ma Huan Ning said. Then, afterwards, Apple's hegemony becomes even more undisguised. It is reported that, in addition to WeChat, Apple has already interviewed several major social network apps in China and asked them to disable the appreciation function. In the information category, paid quiz, live broadcast platform and other clients, to give appreciation to the author or reward the anchor, you will not be able to use popular third party payment methods such as WeChat or Alipay, but must use Apple's in-app purchase and give Apple Leave 30% of the buying money. Apple threatened that if they refuse to make a change, App will not be able to upgrade to the new version, and may even be removed by the AppStore. It seems that the frantic relationship between WeChat and Apple, the giant between the US and China, has not caused Apple to feel any pressure. The latter seems to be preparing to go all the way to the black.

The paid service functions such as rewards, appreciation, and tips are a major feature of the Internet in China. They have been in full swing in recent years and have driven many emerging business models such as live broadcasting and knowledge payment. Different from the traditional service purchase, this kind of reward behavior usually occurs directly between users and content authors. It has little relationship with social media platforms such as WeChat and Zhihui and Google, Apple and other system platforms, and generally does not charge fees. Therefore, Apple's proposed division into 30%, the most direct damage is the interests of the majority of users. After you give another user a reward of 10 yuan, the other party will receive only 7 yuan, and the other 3 yuan will be given away by Apple.

As we all know, Apple's mobile phone uses a closed integrated model of hardware, operating systems, and application stores to build a dedicated platform that forms a duopoly with Google's Android system and completely monopolizes the mobile operating system. With the lack of innovation in Apple's mobile phones and the decline in market appeal, hardware revenue has entered a bottleneck period, and platform-based service revenue has become Apple's new force. Apple's new regulations on the one hand reflect its efforts to boost the service revenue ratio, based on the various services on Apple iOS must be overswept; on the other hand, it can be seen that it is ready to further tighten the application control, not hesitating Communicating with super apps such as WeChat.

Apple's obvious way of surpassing common sense and routines is mainly due to its strong monopoly in the field of smart phones. First of all, although Apple’s overall market share is currently much lower than Google’s Android system, there are currently only two competitors in the smartphone operating system, which is a typical form of double monopoly. Second, Apple has formed a monopoly on vertical integration of mobile phones, operating systems, application stores, and application services. As long as you purchase an iPhone, you have to accept various rules of Apple's overall platform unless you switch to Android. However, for users who have used Apple for a long period of time, no matter whether it is the usage habits or the high transfer costs, they basically form a locking effect. Third, Apple used to dominate hardware, operating systems, and application stores. Many of the above functions and applications still have a degree of open competition. This time, Apple has included the reward function into in-app purchases. Undoubtedly, it has begun to greatly tighten the payment link and strengthen Apple's payment at the core of the entire ecosystem. This kind of forced tying through the platform obviously misused the monopoly position. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce should conduct an anti-monopoly investigation of Apple’s behavior in a timely manner.

In addition to alleged violations of the anti-monopoly law, Apple's mandatory 30% new regulations, the platform to tie-in value-added services, as well as forcing Internet companies to accept acceptance or out of the election, also suspected of violating the anti-unfair competition law . Law is the last weapon and the most effective weapon. Therefore, the compromised Internet companies and consumers should use legal rights without ambiguity. In addition, our public opinion can also exert influence. Of course, there is market power. As a consumer, giving up on Apple and choosing a more open system will not only allow you to enjoy the rewards but also help the healthy development of the entire industry. â–²(The author is the president of the International Internet Research Institute of Shantou University)