Apple’s tipping troubles in China

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By CGTN’s Shen Shiwei

A new policy by Apple has raised eyebrows in China: The company wants to take a 30-percent tax on tips paid to content creators via social media apps by grateful fans and stop updating apps in Apple Store for those who decide not to pay.

WeChat, one of China's largest social media platforms, closed its tipping function due to this reason.

To discuss this, CGTN’s Dialogue invited Kan Kaili, professor at Beijing University of Post and Telecommunication; author and columnist Einar Tangen, and Thomas Luo, CEO and co-founder of Pingwest Technology.

For Kan, the “Apple Tax” was not a wise decision for the Chinese market. The policy goes against the interests of hundreds and thousands of content providers and will push them towards Android platforms instead, he asserted. In the long run, Apple will lose the war, he said.

Einar Tangen agreed this was not a productive move for Apple. Chinese netizens are not happy and may not follow a "greedy" company who has already made tons of money on Apple Store. "Is this really where Apple needs to be?" wondered Tangen, "Is it a part of Apple’s philosophy?"

Luo meanwhile held Apple may already be losing the battle against Chinese competitors. Chinese brands like OPPO, VIVO and Huawei provide better devices with more reasonable prices and are making great progress in software. "They are also making great campaigns," he said. As such, Apple is already losing its market share to local competitors, he noted.