By Maureen Aylward
Apple relaxed its guidelines for selling digital content through its app store, opening the door for more publishers to offer content. We asked our Zintro experts about the challenges and opportunities with this shift in Apple’s policies.
Leanne de Cerbo, communications director for LdC Media, says that while Apple’s change of rule gives them more control over pricing, it also enables publishers more freedom over how they price and sell their content to owners of Apple’s devices. “The whole issue boils down to content, and content is proving to be king when appealing to consumers to buy into whatever medium they choose to read and be entertained,” says de Cerbo.
“Apple, like any digital platform provider, will have to reach out and negotiate fairly with content providers. Proof of this compromise is evident in plans for an Apple store for magazines and newspapers called Newsstand.” de Cerbo says this gives Apple an incentive to make conditions more attractive for publishers. “Playing ball and broadening its content offerings is crucial for Apple to attract consumers to use their mobile devices to get the latest news, books, and videos, particularly as Google is offering attractive terms for smart phones running on Android software, has opened an Android app store, and is aggressively marketing its digital content offerings,” she says.
Eric Hobson, a digital media executive and entrepreneur, says that the Apple changes relate to ‘in app’ subscriptions. “Basically, Apple’s rules were fairly tight and required uniform pricing from the publisher on the app store and on the publisher’s own site to avoid publishers marking up prices to maintain their margins,” says Hobson. “The change isn’t challenging for publishers, it makes life easier for them. The likely winners in the scenario are newspapers and magazines that want to run iPad subscriptions, but were reticent about the Apple 30 percent cut.”
What do you think?
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