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The idea that real “wealth” can’t be built on the back of the iPhone is out of line with the facts. Uber has a market cap of $160B. A not-insignificant fractio
by twoodfin 3y ago
The idea that real “wealth” can’t be built on the back of the iPhone is out of line with the facts.
Uber has a market cap of $160B. A not-insignificant fraction of Meta’s $1.2T value is derived from Instagram (which was notoriously iPhone-only when it took off like a rocket).
Apple has chosen to toll the specific market of digital goods delivered outside the open web. Even there, much wealth has been built: Before they decided it wasn’t worth the “broker fee”, Netflix was far and away the highest grossing app in the store for years on end.
- ajross 3y agoUber and Netflix both launched when apps could handle their own payments without fees though. Do you have an example from the more recent past?
- twoodfin 3y agoRide-sharing (as a meatspace sale) never fell under Apple’s 30% IAP fee. And as I pointed out, Netflix was for a long time willing to pay a massive aggregate fee (though not 30%, terms of their deal with Apple have not been disclosed). Also, you may have heard something in the news recently about TikTok.
- ajross 3y agoRight, so Uber got grandfathered in (a startup unlocking a new style of market a-la Uber wouldn't get the same treatment for sure!), Netflix got a sweetheart deal because they were already dominant in the space, and the only new app you can cite is TikTok, an ad-supported service that until recently didn't sell anything at all. I don't see how this helps your case. Basically the only way to win on iOS with a new idea is to pay apple, or be big enough that Apple doesn't want to lose your customers. That's a complete non-starter for (heh) startups.
- twoodfin 3y agoUber didn’t get “grandfathered in”. From day 1 of IAP, Apple’s fee has only been required for digital goods. If you really need another example, see online sports betting. Now legal in most states, and Apple takes 0%.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gradschoolfail 3y agoWould TikTok work as an example?
- amadeuspagel 3y agoTikTok started as Douyin in China, where almost everyone uses Android.
- danpalmer 3y agoArguably TikTok started as Musical.ly – that's where the popularity outside of China originated from, and ByteDance acquired them for the userbase because it was taking off. That said, it also started in China.
- disgruntledphd2 3y agoI mean, the recommendation tech is pretty clearly ByteDance, and that's really (IMO) what drove TikTok's popularity, in a way that Musical.ly never really was.