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Chinese Developers File Antitrust Complaint Against Apple for 'Monopolistic Behavior'

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A group of 28 developers in China have enlisted a local law firm to file a complaint against Apple in a case alleging that the company engaged in "monopolistic behavior" during some of the actions it has taken to regulate the App Store in China (via The Wall Street Journal).

Lin Wei, an attorney with Dare & Sure Law Firm, filed the complaint this week and targeted Apple for removing apps from the App Store "without detailed explanation and charging excessive fees for in-app purchases." Wei said that Dare & Sure has spoken to different enterprises and received a "very strong response" from each, related to potential antitrust violations with Apple's App Store localization processes.
The complaint accuses Apple of engaging in monopolistic behavior by removing apps from the App Store without detailed explanation and charging excessive fees for in-app purchases. The complaint also alleges Apple doesn't give details on why apps are removed and puts local developers at a disadvantage by not responding to queries in Chinese.

"There is a lack of transparency in the App Store operation," Mr. Lin said. "At this stage, we think complaining to the Chinese regulators to get them involved is most ideal."
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According to Reuters, the case dates back to April of this year, when Dare & Sure invited developers to join and ended up with the 28 in question who are now part of the official complaint made this week. The law firm filed the complaint with two organizations that handle antitrust matters: China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission.

The details of what developers and which apps are involved in the complaint were not given, although an Apple spokeswoman mentioned in a brief comment to Reuters that app publishing remains consistent across all countries. There are some exceptions, however, when local laws force Apple to change its policies, most recently when the company pulled the majority of virtual private network apps from the App Store in China because of strict regulations in the country that require VPN apps to be authorized by the government.

In addition, the Apple spokeswoman said that the company is currently working on expanding its local developer relations team to help bolster app development in the country. Apple has faced issues in the past within China, particularly related to controversial content it has sold on the iTunes and iBooks storefronts, but earlier this year Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated on the company's plans to continue investing in the country, telling local media, "We're here to stay."

Article Link: Chinese Developers File Antitrust Complaint Against Apple for 'Monopolistic Behavior'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/10/chinese-developers-antitrust-apple/
dominiongamma said:
Tired of Apple bending over for China
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CEOs need to be fully cognizant of what they are getting themselves into when going into China. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas...-tech-firms-cave-to-beijings-rules-1502215101

It's a never ending series of bending over, bowing and scraping while losing ground and IP. I hope Tim Cook went into China with native guidance and executives from the get go. You can't go into China with a western perspective and expect it to end well.
 
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Reactions: RuralJuror, ex0dus1985, Cameroncafe10a and 3 others
So long as the concessions don't trickle to the services and products that I use from Apple, I don't really care. Maybe Apple should just fork iOS for that market.
 
SteveJobs2.0 said:
I have a feeling that Tim Cook like many foreigners underestimated the complexities of expanding into China. Never underestimate the cultural differences.
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On what basis? Hunch?

And if he had full understood said complexities, what would have been different? Not to enter?

Sure China is China, and India is India, every local market has its nuances, but the only question upon entering a market is “can we do clean business and can we make money at it?” If no, don’t go. Otherwise everything is negotiation, adaption, optimization.
 
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Jago said:
Monopolistic behaviour requires actually having a monopoly to begin with.
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Are you saying Apple doesn't have a monopoly on the App Store? Because they do. I can hear the argument forming that "people can choose Android so it's not a monopoly". Please don't use that. It's not applicable. This case is specifically about iOS, the App Store, and it's environment. I don't agree with the reason for the lawsuit, but that doesn't change the parameters of it.

It's the same type of situation with Google and Russia.
 
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69Mustang said:
Are you saying Apple doesn't have a monopoly on the App Store? Because they do. I can hear the argument forming that "people can choose Android so it's not a monopoly". Please don't use that. It's not applicable. This case is specifically about iOS, the App Store, and it's environment. I don't agree with the reason for the lawsuit, but that doesn't change the parameters of it.

It's the same type of situation with Google and Russia.
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It’s not a monopoly, it’s their phone, they can put whatever App Store they want on it. Anyone can become a developer and get paid.

Don’t want to use Apple’s App Store? Buy a different phone.
 
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Reactions: ex0dus1985, Cameroncafe10a, BlueParadox and 6 others
More people that don't understand what the monopoly means. The lawsuit itself may have merit in regards to the AppStore practices, but please by slapping monopoly onto it it loses some credibility.

On second thought, I wonder if the lawsuit itself uses that wording or if this is a case of western media hyperbole.
 
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Saipher said:
I'm kinda getting tired of this whole China demands charade (no VPNs, local servers, etc). I wish Apple would just pull out the market but I guess the money is just too good to pass......
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And what happens when China decides to shut down apples manugacturing after they defy them?
 
I guess not every developer is smart? Apple has a monopoly on the App Store because they created and own the App Store. They can charge whatever fees and respond to whatever queries they'd like.

Though I wonder if the percentage of queries responded to changes depending on language.
 
AJ5790 said:
And what happens when China decides to shut down apples manugacturing after they defy them?
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While possible, this would be highly unlikely since the Chinese government also likes money. The taxes paid by employees and companies part of Apple's supply chain, plus overseas investments into said companies, are not small. There would also be a huge backlash by other foreign companies in support of Apple, and by the US government as well, since the Chinese would be basically coercing an American company to do what it wants. Google pulled out of the Chinese market in 2010 due to censorship issues and there was no backlash by the Chinese as far as I know. Plus, it would be the perfect excuse to bring manufacturing back to the US; now, if that is a good idea, it is a different discussion.
 
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China is a huge market and growing and growing. I expect them to leverage that more and more as it’s importance to Apple grows and grows.
 
So, if an idiot lawyer convinces some other idiots to file a lawsuit against a Chinese company in America, it is America attacking China? And if they win the government will step in and shut down all of their operations?

Just because one lawyer does something doesn't mean his or her whole country is doing it. People act like China is one massive person with one opinion about everything. Given the billions of people there it is quite humorous.
 
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Reactions: tongxinshe and laz232
There are a few people saying it's not a monopoly, but developers don't have an option to go to an 'Alternative Apple App Store' to sell their apps, and iPhone users don't have the option to go to the same Alternative store to buy them cheaper.

Sure, Apple own the App Store, and as such have the right to control what they do and don't want to allow. But developers and Apple product owners don't have an alternative store to sell/purchase apps, meaning Apple have exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market - the definition of a monopoly.
 
I don’t say Apple is wrong entering China. But, iOS is not designed for Chinese user from the get go.

Also, Chinese government is evolving into a toxic foreign government in global market. Even local Chinese cannot play well with other Players, let alone a western company.
 
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rp2011 said:
China is a huge market and growing and growing. I expect them to leverage that more and more as it’s importance to Apple grows and grows.
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It's actually the opposite. China's overall economy doesn't have the growth levels that it used to and manufacturing is guaranteed to move to other places that are cheaper than China in the next couple of decades. They're getting more aggressive in leveraging what they have now because they know their opportunity to do so is limited.
 
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Saipher said:
I'm kinda getting tired of this whole China demands charade (no VPNs, local servers, etc). I wish Apple would just pull out the market but I guess the money is just too good to pass......
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First of all this appears to be a case brought about by private individuals - similar to the hundreds of class action suits in the USA.

As for Chinese governmental demands of, for example, local servers - I should say it makes sense from their point of view: they are tired of NSA, FBI et al having access to their citizen's data. I'm sure whichever country you're in would also have politicians and a public supporting such rules.

UK and Australia are starting to make similar demands and would love to implement VPN blocking given half a chance:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_blocking_in_the_United_Kingdom
https://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-filter-blocks-vpns-australia-to-follow-soon-130905/
 
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