Using Apple to buy App membership is more expensive than Android
A user in Shanghai sued Apple and accepted
A few days ago, due to dissatisfaction that some App members are more expensive than Android users, an Apple user in Shanghai sued Apple for alleged monopoly.
The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court accepted the case in February 2021.
A recent investigation by a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that there is a price difference between many apps on the Android and Apple terminals, and the customer service also said that it is indeed because Apple charges channel fees.
A Shanghai user sued Apple for monopoly accepted
A few days ago, consumer "Jinxin" sued Apple for abusing its dominant market position and demanded that Apple pay 100,000 yuan.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff, as an Apple mobile phone consumer, purchased the iQiyi App, Himalaya App, NetEase Cloud Music App and the membership service of the DaoQiu Di App and found that these digital products are priced higher on Apple channels than on Android channels. In addition, only Apple Pay can be selected for the transaction, and it is not compatible with other payment methods such as Alipay or WeChat.
The plaintiff believes that the relevant market involved in this case is the sales platform of smart terminal applications under the iOS system in mainland China.
Due to Apple's software and hardware integration strategy, the iOS system used by Apple mobile phones only supports the App Store.
Therefore, the plaintiff believes that Apple is the sole operating entity in the above-mentioned market and has a dominant market position.
The plaintiff believes that the above behavior of the defendant constitutes a monopoly, causing consumers to be unable to independently choose the payment method and to be forced to pay unfair fees, deprived of their right to choose and fair transactions.
In February of this year, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court accepted the case.
Different system members charge more on the Apple terminal
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found that in some apps, there is indeed a phenomenon that the membership fee on the Apple side is higher than that on the Android side.
On the Weibo App, membership purchases are divided into 1 month, 3 months, and 12 months. The member prices on the Android side are 10 yuan, 30 yuan, and 108 yuan, respectively, and the member prices on the Apple side are 12 yuan, 30 yuan, and 118 yuan.
Choose to purchase super members in QQ. The monthly price of Android is 20 yuan, the price of continuous monthly subscription is 14 yuan, and the price of 3 months is 48 yuan; the monthly price of Apple terminal is 25 yuan, the continuous monthly price is 17 yuan, and the price of 3 months is 60 yuan. yuan.
The above situation exists in Tencent Video, Youku, iQiyi, Jinjiang Literature City and other apps.
However, there are also apps with the same price on Apple and Android, such as JD members, Taobao 88VIP, B station members, WeChat reading, Ctrip super members, KEEP.
For the question of the different charges on the Apple and Android terminals, the customer service of multiple apps gave answers.
IQiyi customer service said that because the Apple App Store requires a built-in Apple ID payment method, Apple will charge channel fees, so the price of the Apple terminal is more expensive than the official website and Android system members.
Or because of different profit models
According to industry insiders, Apple has an IAP, or in-app purchase system. According to Apple’s specifications, virtual goods or services within the scope of application, including game props, e-books, music, videos, subscription members, advanced functions of the app, etc., must be used IAP purchase payment does not allow the use of Alipay, WeChat Pay and other payment methods (including Apple Pay), nor any method (including jumping out of the App, prompt copywriting, etc.) to guide users to purchase through external channels of the application.
In terms of sharing, Apple and developers default to a three-to-seven split, which means that Apple will charge 30%.
In addition, if the user chooses to subscribe for the "continuous annual subscription", then starting from the second year, the developer's share is 85%.
Professor Pan Helin, Executive Dean of the Institute of Digital Economics of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that different apps charge different Apple and Android apps. It does seem to be a price discrimination issue, that is, for the same product, different consumer groups Pricing.
In fact, this differentiated pricing is due to the "Apple tax", that is, for apps provided by the Apple App Store, Apple will share 30% of its revenue as platform fees. Apple has an absolute monopoly in the world, and merchants cannot avoid paying "Tax", so this fee has also become one of the membership service costs, which is the reason why App charges on Apple mobile phones are more expensive.
Pan Helin said that, in fact, it is the third-party App merchants who have passed this fee on to consumers, making consumers pay for the "Apple tax" that should be borne by the third party, making the cost even higher.
In fact, the platform fees charged by Android are higher, but the domestic Android platform does not directly "collect taxes" from consumers like Apple, but charges through advertising and other modes.
Text/Reporter Wen Jing Co-ordinated by Yu Meiying