When The New York Times writes, Apple listens. The iPhone maker is offering a quick response to a Times article that claims the company is banning apps that sell content iTunes doesn’t carry.
The Times reported that Apple is tightening control of its App Store, and quoted Sony. Apparently, Sony is no longer allowed to sell content, including e-books, within its apps. Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division, told the Times that Apple is forcing all in-app purchases to go through its own store.
“It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market,” Haber told the Times. “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”
Apple’s Tight Reins
Times reporters Claire Cain Miller and Miguel Helft speculated that Apple’s decision could impact companies like Amazon.com and others that sell e-book readers in competition with Apple’s iPad tablet.
The reporters also noted a possible shift for Apple and called the move surprising since “Apple has indicated recently that it would be more collaborative, not less, with magazine publishers and other content producers that want more control over how to distribute content on the iPad.”
But Apple was quick to respond, at least indirectly. John Paczkowski, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, reported Apple’s official stance from company spokesperson Trudy Muller.
“We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines,” Muller told the Journal. “We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.”
Antitrust Concerns?
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, said he can see why Apple wants to move in this direction. Apple doesn’t want someone else opening up a store within its store…