On September 3rd, Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reported (Reporter Zhang Yangyang) that the dispute between WeChat and Apple has once again escalated. In the past two days, there have been rumors that WeChat may not support iPhone 16, and once an iPhone is upgraded to iOS 18.2, it will no longer be able to use WeChat. The reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily learned from informed sources that the news is untrue.
At the same time, in response to the above rumors, Apple's technical consultant in China also stated that the third party's discussion on whether WeChat can be used again on iOS systems or Apple devices, including whether WeChat can continue to be listed and downloaded on the Apple App Store in the future, requires mutual communication and discussion between Apple and Tencent to determine the situation in the future.
Although the rumor of WeChat and Apple's "choose one from two" has been debunked, the game of interests between the two can no longer be ignored.
This rumor can be traced back to the previous "Apple Tax" on WeChat mini games. At its Q2 earnings conference, Tencent publicly admitted for the first time that it is in talks with Apple regarding the revenue sharing of WeChat mini games.
This news was revealed by James Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer of Tencent. He stated that Tencent is considering providing in app transaction services through Apple's iOS payment system, and if this agreement is negotiated and agreed upon, Apple will receive a certain percentage of the revenue.
Earlier, there was news in the market that Apple had increased pressure on Chinese technology giants such as Tencent and ByteDance to stop the practice of in app creators evading Apple's 30% cut.
In the current iOS ecosystem, the internal purchase income generated by small games, including WeChat and Tiktok, is not connected to Apple's own payment channel as when downloading game applications in the App Store. The rapidly developing small game market in China is something that Apple cannot ignore.
Apple hopes to 'plug' the payment loophole in mini games and prevent developers from directing users to external payment systems.
As a major global software distribution platform, Apple has implemented a policy of levying a 30% share on all in app transactions in its App Store. Although this regulation has been criticized by industry ecological partners, due to Apple's strong ecosystem, it has always maintained a tough stance.
It is worth noting that Apple is facing a similar game with other companies or regions globally regarding the Apple tax issue. For example, music streaming service provider Spotify and gaming company Epic Games have both had legal disputes with Apple. In addition, the European Union also imposed a huge fine of 1.84 billion euros on Apple in March this year due to its dominant position in the music streaming app market, forcing Apple to adjust its "Apple tax" in certain regions.
Later, Apple made a series of adjustments in the EU region, lowering the Apple tax from the original 30% and 15% (for small and medium-sized developers with an annual income of $1 million) to 17% and 10%, respectively.