Tag: apple

EU regulators take action on the problems associated with mobile apps and their microtransactions

Mobile games are massively popular, but many of these games may be marketed under false pretenses that they are free. In the U.S., federal regulators are pushing for mobile platforms to curb the growing problem of young children making unauthorized purchases through mobile applications. In the European Union, regulators have begun following suit, taking steps to ensure that apps that feature microtransactions are no longer marketed as free and purchases made through these applications are appropriately authorized.

Microtransactions are leading to unauthorized in-app purchases

Microtransactions have become a very common aspect of the mobile app world. In mobile gaming, in-app purchases are one of the best ways for developers to generate revenue from their creations. In these games, players can often purchase upgrades or buy digital currency that can be used to unlock special content. Because mobile games are particularly popular among children and young adults, unauthorized purchases have become a problematic issue.

Games cannot be marketed as free if they also include microtransactions

The EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network has determined that games that are advertised as free cannot also have microtransactions. Google, Apple, and other providers of mobile games will have to remove such games from their store platforms in the European Union. Google has had a somewhat cavalier response to the ruling and has begun taking steps to weed out such games from its store platform, but Apple has been less inclined to accommodate the new rules.

Issue has more to do with marketing rather than microtransactions themselves

The European Commission notes that Apple has yet to take any sufficient action on the matter. Apple has proposed its intention to address the issue of microtransactions, but has not yet made any effort to do so. These transactions are a major revenue stream for app stores, allowing these stores to generate profit for their parent company. Some argue that microtransactions are vital to the growth and survival of mobile games, but the issue is mostly about marketing and not about an application’s ability to generate profit.

Wall Street didn’t appear to be all that affected following the announcement of the ebook settlement.

It has now been reported that Apple has come to an m-commerce settlement when it comes to issues involving accusations of collusion between the company and book publishers in order to fix the prices of ebooks.

When all was said and done, it was announced that Apple had agreed to a settlement of $450 million.

Though it had been expected by some that investors on Wall Street would shudder when they heard about the considerable m-commerce settlement payment that Apple had agreed to make, the reality of it was that they seemed rather unaffected by it. In fact, as a whole, it appears as though those investors have made the group decision to simply look the other way and allow the settlement to occur and be tucked away in the past.

If one was not watching the m-commerce news, it would appear as though nothing had happened.

Some experts in the industry are now predicting that this mobile commerce settlement has held a buy and not sell position, and that the investor reactions could be seen as a confirmation that this could be the strategy to take.

It is clear that investors are taking this opportunity to place their focus on the company’s power for long term earnings instead of falling victim to anxieties that are caused by headlines that appear much more dramatic than they may actually be.

Apple also received a bit of a hand in putting any of the negative news behind it and causing investors to look ahead to a more positive future when they took the opportunity to announce that they had entered into a new partnership with IBM in order to ensure a much more solid entry into the enterprise environment.

When all was said and done, while a settlement of $450 million may sound considerable, when it comes to the size of the m-commerce at Apple and the direction that the company appears to be taking, it does, in fact, appear to be easy to think of the situation as little more than an uncomfortable pimple that will heal up and be entirely forgotten in the future.