Modeled after new one that manages subscriptions for iPad-only newspaper
Apple today announced a new subscription-billing system for its App Store that will be made available to content publishers of all stripes with applications on the iPad and iPhone; in other words, most any publisher looking to survive these days.
(2011’s 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries)
From an Apple press release:
Subscriptions purchased from within the App Store will be sold using the same App Store billing system that has been used to buy billions of apps and In-App Purchases. Publishers set the price and length of subscription (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly). Then with one-click, customers pick the length of subscription and are automatically charged based on their chosen length of commitment (weekly, monthly, etc.). Customers can review and manage all of their subscriptions from their personal account page, including canceling the automatic renewal of a subscription. Apple processes all payments, keeping the same 30 percent share that it does today for other In-App Purchases.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, on medical leave but working nonetheless, said in the press release that the deal with publishers will includes a caveat.
“Our philosophy is simple – when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” said Jobs. “All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app.”
The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal characterized Apples move as “giving in to” to publishers
Apple appears to have given in to newspaper and magazine publishers on Tuesday, allowing them to sell subscriptions to content on iPads and iPhones as well as letting them provide free access to their content for existing subscribers. … Apple’s tight control over subscriptions rankled some publishers who objected that the company wasn’t allowing it access to all subscriber information and wasn’t letting them provide free access to the iPad to existing subscribers.
Peter Kafka at All Things Digital believes Apple’s deal will be a tough sell in some quarters:
Apple’s plan will have significant ripple effects, but one of them won’t be a flood of digital magazine offers from big publishers like Time Warner’s Time Inc. , who have been quite clear that they’re not happy with Apple’s terms, and will work with other platforms like Google’s Android instead.
Apple’s subscription-management service is based on the company uses with The Daily, an iPad-only newspaper launched recently by News Corp. The Apple announcement did not include any information regarding which publishers might be availing themselves of the service early, or the prices they may charge. However, The Daily charges 99 cents per week or $39.99 per year.
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