Despite the commission dispute: Apple waves WeChat through again in China
Apple wants to see more money from WeChat because the Tencent Group is bypassing the App Store model. Nevertheless, an update has now been approved.
WeChat icon on an iPhone.
(Image: Boumen Japet / shutterstock.com)
Apple has once again relented in the App Store review dispute with Chinese internet giant Tencent. Instead of banning an update of its most important application, WeChat, this was approved again at the end of last week –, possibly also to enable preparations for the iPhone 16, which will be unveiled this Monday.
"Super app" allowed to stay
Tencent submitted the update last week. Among other things, it adds "WeChat Moments", which is reminiscent of a similar feature in Instagram, as well as a live streaming function. There had previously been speculation that Apple might no longer allow the WeChat "super app". The company wants 15 or 30 percent of revenue from app sales, in-app payments and subscriptions, depending on the size of revenue, as long as it is digital content. However, this is not yet the case for the hugely popular mini-apps and mini-games, which have many millions of users on WeChat, which is originally called Weixin in Chinese.
In other markets, Apple has been tough as nails and has been battling with Epic Games in court for years. However, given the importance of WeChat in the Chinese market, the company is likely to be hesitant. "The approval should end speculation in China that a dispute between the US company and China's largest company over App Store fees could lead to WeChat being excluded from the latest iPhones," writes the financial news agency Bloomberg, which first reported on the WeChat update approval.
Users live in Weixin
WeChat/Weixin serves as a central application on the smartphones of many people in China. The service is not only used to communicate, but also to make appointments with companies and authorities, pay by QR code at most stores (which now accept neither cash nor, increasingly, credit cards) and play a lot of games. In the mini-games, WeChat links to the web and allows external payment services – Apple would like Tencent to block these in order to be able to earn money. Apple also wants to completely ban in-game messaging, which is also used for this purpose. However, Tencent rejects this on the grounds that it would be "too drastic".
Despite the update approval, negotiations are apparently continuing internally. Apple is said to be interested in a compromise. Apparently, Tencent would like a share of Apple's commission. "We want to make this possible under conditions that we believe are economically sustainable and fair," said Tencent's head of strategy in August. The issue not only affects Tencent and WeChat/Weixin, but also TikTok parent company Byte Dance and the Chinese TikTok offshoot Douyin. Here, too, Apple feels it is being taken advantage of because commissions are flowing into other payment channels.
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