Recently, a report from the United States has left many Apple enthusiasts utterly disappointed, as Apple has brazenly demanded that consumers in China, one of its primary markets, pay an "Apple tax" that is significantly higher than the purchase prices in Europe and America. It is understood that the United States only levies a tax of 8% of the product's value, while Japan and Europe only apply a tax of 17% of the applicable product value.
This time, Apple has directly targeted the Chinese market, and many netizens can't help but complain, believing that apps developed in China are no longer tools controlled by us but are quietly working for Apple! So, what proportion of the "Apple tax" does Apple want to charge our Chinese consumers this time? Faced with Apple's differential treatment, the two domestic giants, WeChat and TikTok, have openly confronted Apple. If one day in the future, Apple and WeChat, TikTok become incompatible, what would your choice be?
Is Apple turning its harvesting gaze to China?
As we all know, Apple, as one of the world's most popular mobile phone brands, has won the favor of many people with its high performance and has long dominated the top five of the mobile phone rankings. Apple has also made a fortune as a result. However, the core of the capital market is to "mow the lawn" (to exploit). Apple is no exception.
According to reports from the American media, recently Apple has given new responsibilities to those friends in China who develop apps - as long as the apps run on their own iPhone mobile phones, they must honestly hand over 30% of the "Apple tax", and no company dares to secretly evade this regulation, otherwise, Apple will sue them to the end! This has really caught our Chinese app developers off guard, almost directly telling everyone: "I'm going to exploit you suckers." What's even more unacceptable is that Apple's attitude towards the American market, Europe, and the Chinese market is a double standard.
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It should be noted that the Apple tax in the United States is only 8%, and it's understandable that the United States has a lower tax to take care of its own people, but the Apple tax in Japan and Europe is only 17%. How come it's征收ing a 30% tax in China, which obviously treats China as a sucker.
Speaking of this, everyone must be puzzled about what the Apple tax that Apple pays is?
The so-called Apple tax is when you use an Apple mobile phone to download paid apps from the App Store, purchase video memberships, cloud storage memberships, play games, and pay for knowledge, Apple will take a portion of the profit in the middle, which is about 15%-30%, which is what we often call the "Apple tax", and then they will give the remaining money to the corresponding app developers.
In fact, regarding the so-called "Apple tax" issue of Apple, both the EU and Japan and South Korea have had many lawsuits with Apple, and due to external pressure, Apple was eventually forced to reduce the tax rate. However, only in our Chinese region, Apple stubbornly insists on charging a high tax of 30%, which is intolerable to app giants like WeChat and has also caused strong dissatisfaction among major domestic companies. Despite so many doubts, Apple seems to be firm in its stance, clearly expressing its confidence in its position in the Chinese market.But if WeChat and TikTok really fall out with Apple, can Apple withstand the consequences?
WeChat and TikTok take a hard stance against Apple?
Due to Apple's "exorbitant" Apple tax in the Chinese region, many domestic companies have long been dissatisfied with Apple, with WeChat and TikTok being the most representative. It should be noted that developing a mobile application is not just a matter of human and financial resources, but also includes a large amount of advertising costs. If you add the so-called "Apple tax" of 30%, it is a heavy blow to those large internet companies, leaving them bruised and battered!
As the interests of Apple, WeChat, and TikTok conflict, rumors of discord between Apple and TikTok and WeChat are rampant, and there are even rumors that Apple will stop updating WeChat and TikTok. What exactly happened?
Apple originally wanted to take advantage of the exorbitant Apple tax to make a fortune, but recently, Apple found that some game and small application developers on platforms such as WeChat and TikTok have been secretly directing users to their own external payment systems. For example, they would place payment links from other platforms in chat windows, inducing users to go to third-party platforms for purchases, thus cleverly avoiding the 30% commission charged by Apple.
In Apple's eyes, isn't WeChat and TikTok cutting off their financial path? It is important to know that the Apple Store is the backyard of Apple's profit source, how could Apple allow you to touch its cake, so Apple's refusal to update WeChat and TikTok also comes from this.
However, the discord between WeChat, TikTok, and Apple has a long history. Over the years, WeChat and TikTok have also been actively playing games with Apple. But relying solely on the two big guys to force Apple to "reduce taxes" is probably not going to happen, and everyone needs to work together, including manufacturers, the entire industry, and regulatory authorities, and it must be closely coordinated with the global "anti-Apple tax" movement.
Which place is the least buying the "Apple tax"? It must be the EU market. But the EU market has also been in a tug-of-war with Apple for several years, and only in March this year, it fined Apple a total of 1.84 billion euros.
At present, more and more users are beginning to awaken, and some users have even initiated lawsuits against the highest Apple tax in China. Although they were ultimately rejected, they are already seen as a big step forward in the industry.The awakening of the people is the most terrifying thing in the world. As the global spotlight focuses on the hot topic of whether the "Apple tax" is fair, it is hard to say whether Apple will continue to insist on its exorbitant Apple tax.