Ah, another day, another-to-the-point, one-line email response from the desk of Steve Jobs. This time around, Apple’s founder and CEO has rallied the full fury of his typing skills to speak out against the evil-doers that would dare to protest the hotn…
It seems that Federal watchdogs may not just be looking at Apple for its recent iPhone OS 4.0 SDK revision that blocks third-party developer tools, but also for the company’s new iAd network.
The Wall Street Journal is following up on the latest news regarding a potential formal inquiry into Apple’s recent moves by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as well as the Department of Justice first reported on Monday by The New York Post.
Monday’s report claimed that Federal regulators were considering taking aim at Apple over what many view as a restrictive move to block non-Apple developer tools for the iPhone OS, including Adobe’s controversial Flash-to-iPhone compiler. But according to the usual “people familiar with the situation,” regulators may also be interested in “new language in the agreement that forbids iPhone software from transmitting analytical data.”
According to AppleInsider, existing mobile ad networks reportedly complained to regulators, claiming that Apple’s upcoming iAd service would give Cupertino a decided advantage in the mobile ad space, “making it impossible for competitors to effectively target their advertisements.”
The Journal report claims that Apple could “head off trouble” by revising the terms of its developer agreement and addressing the more draconian passages that have been ruffling feathers in recent weeks. Apple’s iAd isn’t the only mobile ad network under at least FTC scrutiny: The Federal watchdog is also keeping an eye on Google’s $750 million purchase of mobile advertising firm AdMob.
Image courtesy of BusinessWeek
They’re only 10 miles apart from each other in Silicon Valley and have spent almost a decade as best buddies, but Apple and Google may be gearing up for the mother of all battles, with the mobile computing crown as the ultimate prize.
BusinessWeek has an extensive look this week at the friction brewing between Apple and Google. Both companies have enjoyed a healthy, loving business relationship for almost a decade — after all, Google was the only company to make a contribution to the original iPhone with the Maps application at a time where it was walled off to everyone else.
But things began to unravel in late 2007, when Google announced their own open-source Android OS for mobile devices. It came less than six months after Apple started selling the first iPhone, which ultimately led to Google CEO Eric Schmidt giving up his seat on the Apple board as the two companies’ interests started to intertwine more and more.
“Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the time, “Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings.”
The heat got turned up last summer with Apple’s very public rejection of two Google apps for the iPhone, including one for Google Voice, which also had the side effect of having already-existing third-party developer apps with the feature removed from the App Store.
But with this month’s introduction of Google’s Nexus One “superphone,” there is no doubt that the two companies will now move from simple saber-rattling to a possible all-out war. “Apple and Google both want more,” says Chris Cunningham of New York mobile advertising firm Appssavvy. “They’re gearing up for the ultimate fight.”
As usual, Apple had no comment for the BusinessWeek story, but Google did provide a statement from Vic Gundotra, their vice-president of engineering: “Apple is a valued partner of ours and we continue to work closely with them to help move the entire mobile ecosystem forward.”
The exhaustive BusinessWeek piece by Peter Burrows is well worth a read in its entirety, especially since the skirmish between the two companies could ultimately do more harm to the mobile business in the long run if it continues…
Against all odds, the iPhone’s recent launch in China is proving to have modest success in at least one area, according to The Wall Street Journal — the App Store.
Apple has faced a number of challenges launching its ubiquitous handset in the Chinese market, faced with having to remove Wi-Fi from official iPhones and a large installed black market for unlocked and jailbroken devices already in use there. Worst among these are reports of slow launch sales of the official iPhone, but despite this, the Chinese App Store is still holding its own.
“The market for legitimate Chinese iPhone apps is small but surging,” the report claims. “[Chinese mobile application company 9thQ] estimates about $1 million worth of legitimate iPhone apps have been sold so far this year, though the market could reach $6 million by next year. By comparison, mobile advertising firm AdMob says about $200 million in apps are sold overall through Apple’s store each month.”
Games are proving to be among the most popular apps for China, which is no surprise given their universal appeal. “We have to consider what kinds of games are appealing to users from the West and the East,” said Mao Guangcan, chief executive of Beijing-based Colome Info Tech Co. “Sometimes, games we developed for Western users turn out to be bestsellers in app stores in China.” Their English-language prospecting game, Gold Miner, is generating nearly $59,000 per month in App Store sales.
Chinese iPhone owners are required to have a credit card issued by a Chinese bank if they want to purchase App Store content, which creates another challenge for Apple since few Chinese actually have such cards in everyday use. At present, most apps are in English, with prices in U.S. dollars instead of Chinese yuan.
“Once Wi-Fi is allowed on future 3G iPhone and the price of handsets falls due to product life cycle, more subsidies or economies of scale, we will see the iPhone market in China go mainstream,” summarizes Frank Yu, chief operating officer of app designer Shouji Mobile.
