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Amazon vs. Apple
- Thread starter James D. Macdonald
- Start date
On the one hand, I do think Apple is asking a bit too much with the 30% cut for in-app purchases and subscriptions, and there's no question it's a strong-arm tactic to get content providers to adopt their API's, which isn't good. On the other hand, I really see the appeal of their end-game: I really, really hate having to make new accounts every time I want to subscribe to something or purchase something from a new website, and being able to skip pass all that and just have everything charged to my iTunes account without having to enter any new information, without giving over any more personal data, and without having to manage a menagerie of other accounts is a very, very attractive idea to me.
Does anyone here know how much a content provider like Amazon actually makes off content like ebooks and what they would take away after Apple's 30% off the top and after whatever they give to the publishers? Personally, I'd really like to see more content providers going the in-app purchase route, and I think Apple should be open to making some concessions to get more providers on board, insofar as their cut goes. I do hope they stick to their guns on the "no personal data for you" policy.
ETA: Here are the Ars and MacRumors coverage.
Does anyone here know how much a content provider like Amazon actually makes off content like ebooks and what they would take away after Apple's 30% off the top and after whatever they give to the publishers? Personally, I'd really like to see more content providers going the in-app purchase route, and I think Apple should be open to making some concessions to get more providers on board, insofar as their cut goes. I do hope they stick to their guns on the "no personal data for you" policy.
ETA: Here are the Ars and MacRumors coverage.
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The royalty is 65% for a book below $2.99, and 30% for a book from $2.99-$9.99. I'm not sure what it is above that. As you can see, Apple would take all of Amazon's profit on books in the 30% royalty, which is probably the vast majority of the ebooks that Amazon sells.
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Amazon has enjoyed being the 800-pound gorilla and playing the bully-boy on the playground for a long time. They haven't made a lot of friends among the companies they need to work with.
Apple may well be the 900-pound gorilla.
Apple may well be the 900-pound gorilla.
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Interesting that I read this thread just as I was about to update all my iPhone apps. I've left that one un-updated - hope I remember to skip it in future. Thanks, James, for posting this.
Just to make it clear, you can still access all your Kindle (or whatever other content provider that has done the same, such as the Wall Street Journal) content from whatever app you use. This only removes the direct links to the web stores from the apps. If you wish to update now or in the future, you can always just visit the stores via any web browser. You can always bookmark the page. The accessible content is not affected by updating, only the web links.
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No, actually, they won't because Amazon is removing the ability to purchase via iPad apps (they aren't "Apple apps, dude).
I don't think 30% is fair, but hey, it's Apple's store, and they can do what they want.
It's not like it's a hardship; it's one more click/tap, that's all, to buy external content.
No big whoop.
I don't think 30% is fair, but hey, it's Apple's store, and they can do what they want.
It's not like it's a hardship; it's one more click/tap, that's all, to buy external content.
No big whoop.
They can't. Apple requires the lowest price available for eBooks in their iBookStore. If it's $9.99 at Amazon.com, it's $9.99 in the iBookStore, and no higher. Amazon demands the same price deal for their own customers when indie publishers set their prices: "lowest price, or we'll match the lowest price we find on your eBook elsewhere."
So Amazon, B&N, Google, Kobo, etc., are forfeiting their 30% cut just for market share of eBooks to iOS customers.
Apple removed that requirement a while ago. And you seem to be confusing the iBookstore with the in-app purchase and in-app subscription API's, which are completely separate from Apple's own store. But since Amazon isn't using the in-app purchase API, none of that matters, since they're not selling through Apple's API's anyway.
You're right. I am confusing the iBookstore with the in-app purchases. Thanks for setting me straight.
Glad to hear Apple's changed their lowest price requirement. I based my statement in my last post on the online news reports of a company who pulled their app from Apple's app store just before the deadline for Apple's in-app 30% cut was imposed. The company's reasoning was that they couldn't make a profit with the 30% Apple tax, since their margin on selling eBooks was 30% BEFORE operating expenses. They had to give Apple's customers the lowest price, so they couldn't break even, let alone make a profit.
I was trying to find that story online, but while researching, I've found some interesting stories on Kobo's work-around: a mobile Web-based app for iOS users (all mobile Web users, really), so Kobo wouldn't even need to have an e-reader in the app store.
Software developers to the rescue.
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Phew. There are hardly any books worth buying on iTunes.
I'm still figuring out APPS vs. links on my iPad so thanks for explaining.
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Though I thought I heard Amazon etc won't even be able to link from their apps to their stores? You won't be able to tap on a book in the app and get kicked out to Safari to complete the purchase.
What? When did you last look? Before Apple folded iBooks into the iTunes store in addition to being available via iBooks?
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So it doesn't apply to iPhone apps or any other iThing that Apple may release, just the iPad? I thought it applied to all of them.
I thought the whole point was that Apple was refusing to let Amazon provide Apple users with an option in their app that would allow those users to make that 'one more click' to go to Amazon's web site and buy without paying the Apple Tax? So they'll have to explicitly go to the Amazon web site themselves to buy, which is a lot of pain compared to buying from the ebook reader?
Amazon created the App. They chose to create an app for the iPad. They're no different than any other developer for any other platform.
It's not an Apple app.
It's one click on a button in the app before the update, or one click on a Web browser to go to Amazon.
Moreover, if a user buys a Kindle book from Amazon on a computer, it's automatically downloaded by the App.
If you buy a book in a bookstore, the bookstore determines what price they want to sell the book for; the publisher decides what price to sell the book to the bookstore. The bookstore gets to decide what books they'll sell.
If Apple has royally screwed up—and they may have—their profit or loss will make that clear.
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Well, there's no button in the app anymore is the point. Apple wants the content providers to use their in-app purchasing/subscription API's, not links to the web. As I mentioned, I can see the strong allure of getting everyone on board with the in-app purchase/subscription, since you'd no longer get kicked into a web app, you wouldn't have to set up an account or give your credit card out to anyone else, as everything would be charged to your iTunes account. The problem is the 30% cut that comes with those API's. Apple is gambling that the consumer pressure toward the ease of use their way represents will force content providers to bow to the in-app purchases, and by forcing them to remove the links makes it an all-or-nothing approach: they are hoping customers will see an easy, attractive experience in those apps that provide in-app purchases, and a painful workaround in navigating in Safari to get the content online. My own hope is they'll eventually reduce their cut, and everyone (that I care about) adds the in-app purchases. Well... I don't buy from the Kindle store anyway, so I'm mostly interested in the Conde Nast subscriptions which already have the in-app subscriptions... so I'm good, I guess.
So, if I download a book using my iPad from Amazon, will it show up on my iPad in my Kindle app just like normal?
I'm confused, yes.
I'm confused, yes.
Got the following from B&N:
We're writing to let you know about important changes to
the NOOK for iPhone app. Due to Apple's new rules, you
can no longer shop for NOOK Books within the app.
But don't worry, just open your browser and go to
www.bn.com/nookbooks to shop the world's largest
bookstore. You'll find an incredible selection of books to
enjoy on your iPhone.
• Shop more than 2 million books
• Sample books FREE
• Choose from more than 500,000 free books
Every book you buy will automatically appear in your
NOOK library on your iPhone.
We hope you're enjoying your summer reading.
Read Forever,
The Barnes & Noble NOOK Team
We're writing to let you know about important changes to
the NOOK for iPhone app. Due to Apple's new rules, you
can no longer shop for NOOK Books within the app.
But don't worry, just open your browser and go to
www.bn.com/nookbooks to shop the world's largest
bookstore. You'll find an incredible selection of books to
enjoy on your iPhone.
• Shop more than 2 million books
• Sample books FREE
• Choose from more than 500,000 free books
Every book you buy will automatically appear in your
NOOK library on your iPhone.
We hope you're enjoying your summer reading.
Read Forever,
The Barnes & Noble NOOK Team
B&N said:
I love the way they omit the fact that it's because they want to keep, understandably, as much of the price for the book as possible.
Honestly, I think Apple and the various content providers are all butt-heads.
I also love how it's an "important change" though that clause has been in the app agreement since day 1. (Yes, the enforcement has changed, but the clause hasn't so far as I know.)
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There's a lot more in that argument than Apple and who's going to replace Jobs so Amazon can possibly get around the TOS again. First off, there's no automatic guarantee that anybody replacing Jobs can or will scale Apple's business practices back. Second, the amount of "public domain" material proliferating the Kindle store has run into some discussion about potential copyright infringement when much of the material is scooped up online by so-called "content farmers", repackaged as an original book, and sold on Amazon, so it probably will become a bit more difficult to release public domain material through them when they have to start vetting their product more closely.