Comment: How the Apple world is evolving quietly

NEW YORK: When Tim Cook gets on the scene next week for Apple's annual developer conference, it will look a lot like the rest of the day.

By the end of last year, 900 million iPhones were in use worldwide and were using its iOS operating system.

Apple has created a huge new market for digital services in the last decade or so, making the annual anniversary with San Jose developers one of the highlights of the technology calendar.

But we will not say how much the world Apple is changing – and what that means in the long run, both for the developers and for the bottom line of the company.

RIGHTS OF DEVELOPERS

After all, just three weeks ago, the US Supreme Court, in a majority decision, paved the way for consumers to sue Apple for 30% commission. She collects on payments in her App Store.

The decision did not focus on the merits of the case, and Apple may be justified in claiming that it earns the fees – billed to developers – as in a new defense of the App Store released last week.

But this still opens the door to a series of challenges for ubiquitous digital platforms such as iOS. In writing his opinion for the majority, the new judge Brett Kavanaugh went further. Application developers could also be legally allowed to challenge Apple over the App Store commission, he suggested.

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This is a message that should echo the crowd gathered at the World Developer Conference. Last year, Apple paid US $ 36 billion to developers, which means it has retained about US $ 15 billion (although the 30% discount is reduced for subscription services after their first year ).

For third-party developers, it's not just about lost profits. Companies that compete directly with Apple's services, such as the Spotify music app, complain that the 30% fee puts them at a disadvantage compared to local services that do not pay for shipping.

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This indicates the elephant in the room during this week's event. It takes place in the shadow of Apple's biggest push in services.

Unveiled at a noisy event this spring, these will be new subscription-based businesses that will compete directly with some of the biggest categories in the App Store, such as news, games and videos.

RETURN OF APPLE SERVICES

These subscription companies should take a back seat this week. Instead, the conference should bring updates to Apple services such as cards and e-mail. The company does not charge these services separately, even if they compete to draw attention to third-party applications on iPhone and iPad.

In its defense of the App Store policies last week, Apple has listed a wide range of competing services available through its online store, ranging from cloud storage and calendars to messaging and video chat.

But as the launch of its new arcade game service and Apple TV + in the fall approaches, many developers will feel clearly nervous. From now on, they will compete with Apple for attention and revenue.

Concerns about Apple's tactics

Two questions weigh heavily. The first is how Apple promotes its own services. If this gives them a preferential positioning in the App Store, for example, it would attract a much larger audience. It already pre-installs music, television and news applications, ensuring a wide distribution of its services.

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Antitrust regulators have already challenged such tactics, for example by accusing Microsoft of using Windows as a distribution channel to break into new markets.

One difference, however, is that the computer operating system enjoyed an unchallenged monopoly, while Apple's market share in smartphone software is lower than that of Google's Android. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has already said that this would put Apple beyond the control of competition.

The second question is to what extent Apple's services benefit from preferential links with the company's software platform.

Apple Music, for example, can already be launched by voice command using Siri, a feature not available for competing music applications. Apple's payment system is the only one that can be used simply by waving an iPhone on a payment terminal.

The developer conference is an opportunity to present the latest features built into Apple's software platform.

The extent to which these are reserved for Apple's own services, as opposed to third-party applications, is not something the company will want to draw attention to. But this will be a key factor, as the interests of Apple and those of developers diverge more and more.