Beginning in November, Apple will require Patreon to use the tech giant’s in-app purchasing system and remove all other billing systems from the Patreon iOS app.

As Patreon wrote in a news release Monday (Aug. 12), this has two “major consequences” for creators. For one, Apple will begin applying its 30% App Store fee to all new subscribers who buy their memberships from the Patreon iOS app, in addition the same fee for anything purchased from a creator’s Patreon shop.

In addition, any creator now using first-of-the-month or per-creation billing plans will need to switch to subscription billing to continue earning in the iOS app, as that’s the only billing type supported by Apple’s in-app purchase system.

The fee will not impact existing Patreon members, but only new memberships purchased from the iOS app from November onward.

“We didn’t choose this path, but we’re focusing our resources on making subscription billing an even better experience for creators and fans,” Patreon wrote. “This will take time and we’re committed to making it happen for every creator.”

PYMNTS has contacted Apple for comment but has not yet received a reply.

To help creators navigate the changes, Patreon says it has developed an optional tool that can automatically increase creator’s prices — only in the iOS app — to offset the cost of Apple’s fee.

“This way, you’ll continue to earn at least the same amount per membership as you do on all other platforms,” the news release said. “That said, you deserve the chance to decide whether that’s something you want. So, while the automatic price increase is the default option, you also have the choice to keep your prices the same and pay the 30% fee from your earnings.”

The news comes days after Apple said it was changing its Digital Markets Act compliance plan in response to the European Commission alleging that the company is stifling competition on its App Store. As reported here last week, Apple will allow developers to promote offers for purchases available at a platform of their choice, including another app marketplace, app or website.

The post Apple Requiring Patreon to Switch to In-App Purchase System appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“We’re introducing updated terms that will apply this fall for developers with apps in the European Union storefronts of the App Store that use the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement,” Apple said in a Thursday (Aug. 8) announcement.

One of the key changes is that developers can promote offers for purchases available at a destination of their choice, including another app marketplace, app or website, according to the announcement.

“Developers may design and execute within their apps the communication and promotion of offers,” the announcement added. “This includes providing information about prices of subscriptions or any other offer available both within or outside the app, and providing explanations or instructions about how to subscribe to offers outside the application.”

Other key changes allow developers to use an actionable link that can take users to their destination, to use any number of URLs, and to provide links with parameters, redirects and intermediate links to landing pages, per the announcement.

“Updated business terms for apps with the External Purchase Link Entitlement are being introduced to align with the changes to these capabilities,” the announcement said.

Apple said in the update that it made these changes in response to a June announcement by the European Commission.

That announcement, in which the European Commission accused Apple of stifling competition in its App Store, marked the first time that European Union regulators used new digital rules against a Big Tech company, PYMNTS reported at the time.

The accusations came as part of the EU’s effort to enforce its Digital Markets Act, which aims to open the market and level the playing field for startups.

One of the main concerns raised by the regulators focused on the restrictions Apple imposes on developers’ ability to direct their customers to promotions outside the App Store.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s executive vice president in charge of digital policy, said at the time: “The DMA is not an excessive ask. [It] is plain vanilla to ask for a fair, open and contestable marketplace.”

The post Apple Updates App Store Terms After Criticism From European Commission appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

As the Financial Times (FT) reported Saturday (Aug. 3), this reduction came as Buffett sold off $76 billion in stocks. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, reduced its Apple holdings by more than $50 billion to $84.2 billion during the second quarter, the report said. 

The data indicates that Berkshire sold around 390 million Apple shares, or about half of its stake, per calculations by the FT. Selling the stocks gives Berkshire a record $277 billion in cash holdings, the report said.

Buffett began scaling back Berkshire’s Apple stake last year, and in May reduced it again by around 13%. The billionaire indicated at the time that the sale was connected to his wish to avoid a higher tax bill if rates go higher to cover an increasing U.S. fiscal deficit.

“It doesn’t bother me in the least to write that check and I would really hope with all that America’s done for all of you, it shouldn’t bother you that we do it and if I’m doing it at 21% this year and we’re doing it a little higher percentage later on, I don’t think you’ll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year,” Buffett said.

The sale came on the heels of Apple’s quarterly earnings report, which included some discussion of the company’s coming artificial intelligence (AI) features, dubbed Apple Intelligence.

“It will transform how users interact with technology, from writing tools to help you express yourself to image playground — which gives you the ability to create fun images and communicate in new ways — to powerful tools to summarize and prioritize notifications,” CEO Tim Cook said.

As Apple Intelligence evolves, he said, the company is weaving ChatGPT into experiences within iPhone, Mac and iPad, he said, adding that AI has “extraordinary possibilities.” 

During the question-and-answer session with analysts, Cook argued that Apple Intelligence will offer a “compelling” reason for users to upgrade their devices.

As PYMNTS wrote, investor reaction to the report indicated “what might be termed a muted response to at least some of the numbers and the commentary. … Call it, perhaps a ‘show me’ reaction on the part of investors, particularly where AI is concerned.”

The post Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Stake in Apple by Half appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The iPhone maker has threatened to reject updates to WeChat from Tencent Holdings and to Douyin from ByteDance unless the companies close those loopholes, Bloomberg reported Friday (Aug. 2).

An Apple spokesperson said in the report that the company’s guidelines specify that the sale of all digital goods must go through its system and that it may reject app submissions that violate that policy.

Tencent accepted Apple’s demand that it eliminate links used by mini-game developers to accept payment outside the Apple platform but has disputed the company’s demand that it disable an in-game messaging system, according to the report. Tencent has said that the messaging feature is important to the user experience.

ByteDance closed similar loopholes on its Douyin app after Apple asked it to do so, the report said.

The iPhone maker polices its app ecosystem to preserve quality and security, per the report.

At the same time, its moves targeting Tencent and ByteDance come at a time when it is dealing with challenges in the Chinese market and facing regulatory scrutiny around the world, according to the report.

A standoff with Tencent, which is a dominant player in internet content in China, could add another conflict to those already faced by Apple, per the report.

It was reported in July that after winning a lawsuit in China, Apple asked the court to edit the ruling it handed down to eliminate its references to Apple having a “dominant position” and to the potential that the firm’s “unfair pricing may hurt consumers.”

That move was highly unusual and highlights the sensitivities of Apple’s position in the Chinese smartphone market, Bloomberg reported July 2.

Apple has faced challenges in other markets, too.

On July 11, the European Union (EU) said that Apple agreed to open its mobile wallet tech to rivals in order toavoid fines by EU regulators.

Also in July, it was reported that India’s antitrust watchdog said Apple abused its dominant place in the app store market, engaging in “abusive conduct and practices.”

The post Report: Apple Tells WeChat Parent Tencent to Eliminate Payment Loopholes appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Investors bid the shares up by about 0.5% after hours — indicating what might be termed a muted response to at least some of the numbers and the commentary, retracing only some of the losses seen during the day’s official trading.

Call it, perhaps a “show me” reaction on the part of investors, particularly where AI is concerned.

Hardware sales in the fiscal third quarter inched up to $61.6 billion, as iPhone and Wearables sales slipped, but Mac sales gathered 2.9% to $7 billion. IPad sales surged 24% in the quarter, to $7.2 billion, boosted by new launches including the iPad Pro.

Services Momentum

CEO Tim Cook said on the call that services revenues were up 14% to $24.2 billion as paid subscriptions reached an all-time high. That growth rate matched the fiscal second quarter and represented an acceleration from the 11% pace seen earlier in the year. 

The CEO noted on the call with analysts that Apple achieved record revenue “in the majority” of services categories, calling out advertising, cloud and payment services.

Details on the call regarding payments were qualitative, and Cook stated that the company expanded tap-to-pay functionality on iPhone to more markets, including Japan, Canada, Italy and Germany.

As noted here, the rollout of AI features is set to take time, and just this week the tech behemoth announced that its upcoming AI features will be delayed and will not be included in the initial launch of the new iPhone and iPad software update.

With a nod toward AI, Cook said, “It will transform how users interact with technology, from writing tools to help you express yourself to image playground — which gives you the ability to create fun images and communicate in new ways — to powerful tools to summarize and prioritizing notifications.” 

As Apple Intelligence evolves, he said, the firm is integrating ChatGPT into experiences within iPhone, Mac and iPad, he said, adding that AI has “extraordinary possibilities.” During the question-and-answer session with analysts, Cook contended that Apple Intelligence will present a “compelling” reason to upgrade hardware.

Growth in Paid Accounts

CFO Luca Maestri said on the call that “both transacting accounts and paid accounts reach a new all-time high with paid accounts growing double-digits year over year. Also, paid subscriptions showed strong double-digit growth. We have well over 1 billion paid subscriptions across the services on our platform — more than double the number that we had only four years ago.” 

Looking ahead, he said that service-related revenues are expected to grow double digits, at rates similar to the first three quarters of the year. 

Maestri said on the call that the growing pool of customers has been using the ecosystem more often, “and we have seen this, consistently, for many quarters. … Every quarter more people using the ecosystem, both the free elements of the ecosystem and the paid elements.”

Asked on the call about the impact of complying with Europe’s Digital Markets Act rules, Maestri noted, “We have seen a good level of adoption from developers, on those changes. … It’s obviously early stage. … Just to provide you a frame of reference, the percentage of revenue that we generate from the European Union on the App Store is 7% of the total.”

The post Apple’s Services Segment Grows, But AI Still Remains a ‘Show Me’ Story appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The tech giant says the U.S. government’s suit “bears no relation to reality” and should be dismissed by a federal judge, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (Aug. 1), citing a court filing.

The Justice Department — joined by several state attorneys general — is suing Apple for allegedly keeping competitors from accessing its devices’ software and hardware, thus making it harder for consumers to switch phones.

“We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time. “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”

In its latest filing, Apple denies that it holds a monopoly, and says it is not required to give software developers any more access to iPhones than they already do.

“The implausibility of the government’s claim that Apple’s conduct has eroded smartphone competition is underscored by the complaint’s implicit recognition that the smartphone market exhibits ongoing innovation and vigorous competition,” Apple’s filing said.

The company added that it faces “robust competition from other smartphone manufacturers around the world, including Google and Samsung.”

As Bloomberg noted, the suit is part of a larger competition effort by the Biden administration, one that has been mostly focused on big tech, with companies like Apple, Google and Meta facing antitrust action in both the U.S. and Europe.

In other Apple news, the company this week began rolling out developer betas for its devices that offer an early look at Apple Intelligence, its artificial intelligence (AI) suite.

“Apple’s been a bit behind in the AI race,” Bob Rogers, data scientist and CEO of Oii.ai, told PYMNTS on Wednesday (July 31). “By enhancing Siri and summaries with AI, I think users will be able to take advantage of ‘conversational’ searching.”

The new betas include writing tools, natural language search capabilities for Photos, priority message sorting for Mail and Siri improvements across iPhone, iPad and Mac platforms. Advances in voice search capabilities could substantially streamline the shopping process, that report noted.

“Users can speak naturally and conversationally, meaning searches are less focused on hitting keywords,” Steven Athwal, CEO and founder of The Big Phone Store, told PYMNTS. “So it’s faster and easier to find what they need, and search is done quicker.”

The post Apple Wants ‘Implausible’ iPhone Antitrust Case Thrown Out appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

It’s part of the developer betas for the tech giant’s iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems, The Verge reported Monday (July 29).

Among the features include a version of Siri with an updated design and ability to maintain context across multiple requests, email features such as smart reply and email summaries and natural language search in Photos, the report said.

According to the report, users who want to install the updates will need an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max or, for iPads and Macs, a system with an Apple Silicon chip. After installation, users will need to join a waitlist from their devices’ Settings menu and wait for a notification that it’s ready for them to access, the report said.

This report follows Apple’s announcement from earlier Monday that it was delaying the launch of its AI features — known as Apple Intelligence — not including them in the initial launch of the new iPhone and iPad software updates.

A report earlier by Bloomberg News said the decision to hold off on rolling out the AI features is aimed at ensuring a smooth consumer release and addressing concerns over the stability of the technology. By offering developers more time to test and iron out any issues, the company hopes to avoid any major bugs or glitches.

“The delay in the release of Apple Intelligence comes as the tech giant aims to compete in the rapidly growing AI space,” PYMNTS wrote Monday. “The company believes that the new features could help drive sales of the upcoming iPhone 16 models, which are expected to have minimal design changes. With software-related enhancements and a faster chip, Apple hopes to attract customers with the AI capabilities of its new devices.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about what Apple’s AI initiative could mean for mobile commerce. Tyler Rice, founder of kimchi.co and an iOS developer, told PYMNTS he sees significant potential in AI-driven mobile shopping.

“A big one is a better search,” Rice told PYMNTS. “LLMs (large language models) allow for a better search experience so customers can more quickly find the products they are looking for or interested in.”

The post Apple Debuts AI Features With New Developer Betas appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

According to Bloomberg, the decision to delay the AI features is aimed at ensuring a smooth consumer release and addressing concerns over the stability of the technology. By giving developers more time to test and iron out any issues, Apple hopes to avoid any major bugs or glitches. The company is also planning to release multiple updates to iOS 18 over the next few years to introduce the full set of Apple Intelligence features.

Apple Intelligence includes various features such as prioritization of notifications, web page and voice note summaries, writing tools, a revamped Siri, and integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, even when the AI features are launched with iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, some functionalities, including significant changes to Siri, will still be missing.

The delay in the release of Apple Intelligence comes as the tech giant aims to compete in the rapidly growing AI space. The company believes that the new features could help drive sales of the upcoming iPhone 16 models, which are expected to have minimal design changes. With software-related enhancements and a faster chip, Apple hopes to attract customers with the AI capabilities of its new devices.

PYMNTS has reported on the significant developments and competition among tech giants and startups in the AI landscape. Microsoft’s Bing is introducing a generative search feature to rival Google’s AI-powered offerings. OpenAI has also unveiled a prototype called SearchGPT, which aims to enhance information retrieval capabilities. The emergence of AI-powered delivery bots, such as Vayu Robotics, is reshaping eCommerce logistics by promising to reduce delivery costs. Additionally, AI startup World Labs, founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, has achieved unicorn status with a valuation of $1 billion in just four months. The company focuses on teaching computers to understand the 3D world. The integration of AI with edge computing is also gaining momentum, with potential applications in retail and manufacturing.

As the AI boom continues, regulators are rushing to adapt and address potential antitrust issues. Competition watchdogs from the U.S., EU, and U.K. have joined forces to tackle concerns over market concentration and anti-competitive practices in the AI industry. They are particularly focused on controlling critical AI resources and scrutinizing tech giants’ investments. However, Meta has raised concerns about the EU’s strict AI regulations, warning of a potential “tech gap” between Europe and the rest of the world.

The post Apple Delays AI Features for New iPhone and iPad Software Updates appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

This is the first time the company has reduced prices on current-generation Pro models in India, Seeking Alpha reported Friday (July 26).

The price reductions amount to between 3% and 4% on models across Apple’s iPhone product range, according to the report.

Apple’s move follows India’s reduction of its basic customs duty on mobile phones from the previous 20% to the current 15%, per the report.

The Indian smartphone market grew 1% in the second quarter, with 36.4 million units shipped, independent analyst company Canalys said in a July 18 press release.

Canalys attributed this modest growth to elections, seasonal demand and, in some regions, extreme weather conditions. The company added that inventory levels remain high, with some vendors focusing on reducing their existing stocks.

Looking ahead, Canalys expects the Indian smartphone market to see mid-single-digit growth in both the upcoming festive season and overall shipments this year.

“The market is grappling with challenges such as fluctuating demand in the mass-market segment, slow migration from feature phones to smartphone and increasing adoption of second-hand smartphones,” Sanyam Chaurasia, senior analyst at Canalys, said in the release. “As a result, brands often resort to creating unnatural demand through festive promotions.”

Apple opened its first brick-and-mortar store in India in April 2023, when its sales in the country had jumped almost 50% amid a retail push.

It was reported at the time that Apple was looking to India and its growing middle class as a chance to boost sales at a time when the company had seen tech demand diminish in other markets.

Lowering prices in another market — China — led to a rebound in iPhone sales there. Apple offered aggressive discounts on its official Tmall site in China and saw its iPhone sales rebound after falling earlier in the year.

Apple’s iPhone sales in China have been under pressure from other makers of high-end smartphones, including China’s Huawei, but they saw a 52% jump in April and a 40% increase in May.

The post Apple Lowers iPhone Prices in India After Country Reduces Customs Duty appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“Today, the administration announced that Apple has signed onto the voluntary commitments, further cementing these commitments as cornerstones of responsible AI innovation,” the White House said in a Friday (July 26) fact sheet.

The White House first announced these voluntary commitments in July 2023, saying they aim to help move toward safe, secure and transparent development of AI technology.

At that time, seven companies signed on: Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI.

The commitments include a range of measures designed to better understand the risks and ethical implications of new technologies while providing greater transparency and restricting the potential for misuse, the White House said.

“Companies that are developing these emerging technologies have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe,” the White House said in a July 21, 2023, fact sheet announcing the voluntary commitments. “To make the most of AI’s potential, the Biden-Harris Administration is encouraging this industry to uphold the highest standards to ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of Americans’ rights and safety.”

In September, another eight companies signed onto the voluntary commitments: Adobe, Cohere, IBM, Nvidia, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI and Stability, the White House said in a Sept. 12, 2023, fact sheet.

After the announcement of the first round of voluntary commitments in July 2023, observers noted that many of the practices agreed to were already in place at many AI companies and don’t represent new regulations, PYMNTS reported at the time.

The commitment to self-regulation also drew criticism from consumer groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

“While EPIC appreciates the Biden Administration’s use of its authorities to place safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence, we both agree that voluntary commitments are not enough when it comes to Big Tech,” Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director at EPIC, said in a July 21, 2023, statement. “Congress and federal regulators must put meaningful, enforceable guardrails in place to ensure the use of AI is fair, transparent, and protects individuals’ privacy and civil rights.”

The post Apple Signs Biden Administration’s Commitment for AI Safety appeared first on PYMNTS.com.