Apple’s rejection of the Sony e-Reader app and announcement of App Store subscriptions, in conjunction with The Daily launch launch, seems to have agitated a large number of folks. I’d assumed the implications and resultant response was overblown. But it turns out that I was the one who misread the situation. From Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday:
Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing. All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app
I can’t imagine many businesses will suddenly want to pass 30% of their subscription-based income on to Apple in exchange for a place in the App Store. In fact, those running on tight margins, like Pandora or Slacker, now find themselves confronted with a difficult decision — raise rates or abandon iOS.
But something’s got to give. Apple’s iPhone success is largely based on a vibrant ecosystem of third party apps and services. It’s symbiotic… and copacetic. At least it was. And not everyone will take this lying down. As Rhapsody stated in an email release I received:
