They'll have to dip their finger into that sweet ad revenue at some point to sate the shareholder's hunger for growth. Ads are already leaking out of the app store into apple news and the stocks app.
That would be fine as long as they don't go for the attention like with regular ads. They need to be very careful though, other device makers are not that behind Apple and worsening the user experience can very well kill Apple.
I have an Apple M1 MacBook Air. Didn't jump yet for M2/M2 Pro/M2 Pro Max. Will probably jump for the next.
I bought an Apple Watch and returned it. It did nothing for me.
If I could run full Mac OS X on an iPad, I'd buy one. Otherwise, I don't have one.
I haven't upgraded my AirPods/I don't have AirPods Pro because I don't like the in-ear and don't need noise cancellation that badly.
I'm probably an outlier but... they haven't been able to convert me on Apple Watch or iPad yet. I wonder how many other customers like me are sitting out there.
Interesting that you upgrade your phone every year. It kinda makes sense when you think about how often you use your phone, but I've done the opposite and only ever upgraded my (or my partner's) phone when it broke or started slowing down, which typically takes ~3 years now with iphones and ~1.5 years with android -- $600-1k just feels like a huge purchase if you're not actively reminding yourself to amortize it.
I'm starting to consider going to your approach (with trade-in) just to get camera upgrades.
I feel like the gains are becoming smaller, at least in terms of stuff that interests me. I was happy to get the OLED screen on my iPhone 12. It's still running strong and have no plans to upgrade for at least another few years.
iPad has an increasingly narrow use-case now that phones are so big and displays are so good (imo). The only reason I got an iPad was to take notes for class, which it exceeds at very well. It feels like writing on paper, almost. And I'm starting flight school soon too. Seems all the charts/etc. are electronic now, so a tablet with ForeFlight (App Store only) is almost necessary.
FWIW, my reMarkable 2 _does_ feel like writing on paper (IMhO it's superior to paper in most ways except perhaps very very fine details). It is however a more narrow-usage device which is both good (distraction free) and bad (distraction free :)
It will be interesting to watch that service revenue evolve now that the EU and Biden Administration is rethinking their stance on the App Store. Tim Cook did a fairly good job diversifying Apple's service offerings, but how competitive will they be on an even playing field?
Apple is allowed to collect the 15-30%. No one including EU or US has said otherwise.
And what happened in Netherlands with the dating apps underscores this.
What will happen instead is that there will be other stores/payment methods and Apple will simply bill them instead using the telemetry it has around which apps are being launched. And what those stores will find is that its an unprofitable and unenjoyable business to run and the status quo will largely remain the same.
You're right. However, the Biden administration is now on-record stating that iPhones need more app competition[0] and sideloading will happen in the EU regardless.
The hammer is dropping, just not in a very exciting fashion. The fun part comes when Apple is forced to implement something that complies with EU regulators and pleases the US Department of Commerce.
If Windows, MacOS, or even Android did the same thing, I don't think the Department of Commerce would be very happy. In fact, I think they're starting to recognize that all platforms should be treated equally, or at least that's what the official US inquiry reports:
> NTIA’s “Competition in the Mobile Application Ecosystem” report found the current ecosystem is not a level playing field, which is harmful to developers and consumers. The report recommends policy changes to improve the ecosystem.
Apple continuing to charge an arbitrary fee probably doesn't "level the playing field" they're talking about. But we can agree to disagree for now, I'm perfectly contented waiting for Apple's response in Europe first.
a) Apple will still require the developer to be registered with their Developer Program in order to get the certificate to allow apps to be installed. They can simply ask for the cost of the app to be self-reported.
b) With existing telemetry they know which apps are being installed and run and can simply bill the developer directly.
c) In the case of a developer using a third party store, Apple can have an API which stores can use to report this information so they can manage the developer relationship themselves.
d) All of the above will simply shift revenue collection to a compliance activity. If you don't provide accurate details your certificate is revoked and you're banned from the store.
> in order to get the certificate to allow apps to be installed
Personally, I think this goes hand in hand with the App store requirement - if that one will be lifted, the certificate one will be lifted as well.
> They can simply ask for the cost of the app to be self-reported.
The app itself is free, and the customer will pay for something else instead. I'm not sure about the legalese (possibly different per country), but this just reeks of loopholes.
Does Apple's 30% cut of all app store payments count as "services revenue"? If so, quite a bit comes from sketchy loot box games (though certainly not all)
I'm actually kind of curious about this. I will be keeping a smartphone or tablet out of my kid's hands for as long as possible. Most games on the App Store seem designed to sell microtransactions and not just, be a fun game.
I'd feel much better giving her a Switch and some Mario games.
Apple has a pretty good parental control system called “Ask to Buy” where the kids can’t make any purchases in the App Store without the permission of the ”family organizer”.
As others have said - Apple Arcade is the best thing to do here. I have a 10 year old son and I refuse to approve anything if it isn’t Apple Arcade or free to play without in app purchases.
App store revenue is mostly games, but there's also Apple Music, AppleTV+, Apple News+, iClouds storage plans (almost necessary to use iCloud photos), Apple Fitness+, Apple Arcade, and probably others I'm forgetting.
In hindsight, it's perfectly clear that Fortnite was removed from the App Store for it's irreversible damage done to our teens. Definitely wasn't an early move to strong-arm dissenting developers before regulatory bodies did their own research.
Ugh. Apple Services are flawed at the root and are a worrying trend. I want to buy hardware that I own. I don't want crappy DRM crap.
Hope they don't get addicted to that crappy business model and become the next Google (search results are so terrible now, almost should call it ad results).
Services Revenues: +6.4% YoY
Net Income: -13.4% YoY