Apple announced a new subscription service on 15th February, 2011, as per which the iPhone maker would take a revenue share of 30 percent on all in-app subscription sales from the App Store. According to a blog post on The New York Times, the new set of rules has sent a shudder through some of iPhone app developers and publishers attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The blog post quotes Carlos Rivera, who handles partnerships for Sling Media, as saying “It gives me pause, definitely.” Sling Media offers streaming services wherein people can stream television and movies stored on a set-top box to any mobile device. The company sells a set-top box (price starts at $169 apiece) directly to consumers. Then, they charge customer $30 per device for streaming videos. The company was now planning to enter into a partnership wherein they would subsidize the cost of box and waive the per device fees and would only charge subscription fees from the customers. The company has plans to sell the services through Verizon’s VCast store. It was also thinking of replicating the same at App Store but the recent announcement has put holds on the plan.
The blog post quotes him saying “Is it worth it for us to do something like that? It’s a question of distribution. Without contracts to ensure a customer stays for a certain period of time, it’s a risky move to give up 30 percent every month.”
“This throws everything off,” he added.
The mobile application marketplace is getting very fierce as it is growing and becoming lucrative. Key players in the ecosystem like vendors, carriers and iPhone developers are battling against each other to control the revenue flow from the market.
Source- The New York Times
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