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Apple pulls thousands of games from its Chinese App Store

The battle between China and America continues and that means bad news for Apple and the App Store. The company’s Chinese business is at risk, which is bad news. Not only because millions of customers in that country use Apple products, but also because the company still makes products there.

The information writes that the Chinese government is closing all kinds of loopholes for which Apple is grateful, as a result of which thousands of applications have disappeared from the Chinese App Store. Earlier this month, more than 47,000 apps disappeared. This is not surprising, given that Apple has already closed a loophole that allowed games and apps, with digital purchases, to be launched without approval from the Chinese government. Earlier, that government had already exerted influence on Apple by forcing the company to close the digital iBooks and iTunes Movies stores in that country.

Click / tap for larger. (Image: ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

China can make things difficult for Apple

However, the fact that the App Store exists in China is probably already a giant loophole, according to The Information. Foreign app stores must be part of a Chinese joint venture. The share of the Chinese partner must be larger and also make the decisions, but Apple does it all on its own. It shouldn’t be like that in China. In addition, Apple has so far not shared iOS source code with the Chinese government; that is the result of a negotiation.

No one will have missed that President Trump has taken significant steps against China in recent months. Recent examples are the measures taken against Huawei, WeChat and of course TikTok. Such measures can have major consequences if it turns out that parent companies, such as Tencent, are suddenly no longer allowed to do business with American companies. In this case, this does not only apply to Apple.

The information

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