Ma Huateng vs. Cook! The second round of WeChat and Apple is exciting

On May 29, 2020, WeChat released the "Notice on Regulating Virtual Payment Behaviors in Official Accounts", stating that based on iOS's management regulations for developers, WeChat official accounts do not currently support virtual payment services on iOS. Virtual payment services refer to the purchase of non-physical goods, such as VIP memberships, top-ups, recorded courses, recorded audio and video, and other virtual products.

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The incident happened so suddenly and so strangely. Let's sort out the cause and effect of the whole incident.

On March 5, 2020, Apple suddenly announced that all iOS software must support iOS13 from April, and all applications will be audited before April! That is to say, by April, all applications on the App Store must be modified to iOS13, otherwise they will not be allowed to be put on the shelves, and the listed applications will also be deleted.

Ma Huateng responded to this by first angrily swearing at Apple and then saying he was cooperating, which resulted in a mess. WeChat said that in order to optimize the user experience, WeChat and Apple reached a cooperation to jointly explore the dark mode experience of WeChat on the iOS system. The function has been developed and is expected to be launched in the next new version.

In the third quarter of 2019, the overall profit of global mobile phones fell by 11% year-on-year to $12 billion, but Apple still occupied 66% of the industry's profits and 32% of the total mobile phone revenue, dominating the global mobile phone market. In the high-end mobile phone market above $400, Apple occupies more than half of the market share, accounting for 52%, an increase from 48% in the same period last year. Samsung and Huawei, ranked second and third, have market shares of 25% and 12% respectively. Who can shake such a position?

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One is the big brother of the smartphone industry, and the other is the most popular software under the Internet giant. These two things are completely unrelated, but they are closely linked because of one thing. Apple suddenly issued a warning to WeChat, requiring WeChat to have a night mode before the end of May. If WeChat insists on not developing a night mode, it will face being removed from the shelves.

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Then, two months after the exciting plot, the annual drama began.

On May 29, 2020, WeChat released the "Notice on Regulating Virtual Payment Behaviors in Official Accounts". The notice stated that based on iOS's management regulations for developers, WeChat official accounts do not currently support virtual payment services on iOS. Virtual payment services refer to the purchase of non-physical goods, such as VIP membership, top-ups, recorded courses, recorded audio and video, and other virtual products.

This year, the number of active WeChat users in China and overseas has reached more than 1 billion. Once virtual payments are made in the APP, additional "taxes" will be collected, such as the purchase of WeChat emojis, memberships, virtual currency recharges, etc. When virtual payments are made through the IAP channel, Apple will take 30% of the developer's income.

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Apple's requirement of a 30% share has long displeased many creators, and creators around the world have long suffered from Apple. Users of Apple devices give tips to creators, and Apple will share the profits with the creators. Tencent's announcement this time will have a huge impact on Apple's business in China.

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WeChat has a huge number of users in China, and its usage abroad is also expanding. Almost every one of China's 1.4 billion people has a WeChat account, which is indispensable not only for daily life and entertainment, but also for work. Everyone is very dependent on WeChat, and they are always checking WeChat.

WeChat has become an important part of most people's work and life. This rectification will affect the experience of Apple users using WeChat to a certain extent. WeChat's move is equivalent to a heavy blow to Apple. On the national level, the whole country is united in responding to the stupid move of the Americans. This is also a disguised support for Huawei. With all efforts in one place, it is bound to teach the Americans a lesson!