Apple shared some big news this week at its 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference. Among the items affecting the subscription world are the launch of Apple Music, a subscription music service which we covered earlier this week, and News, a replacement for its out-of-date Newsstand app.Launching first in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, the Flipboard-like News app will deliver content from media partners including The Economist, Financial Times, Wired, Vox and The New York Times. Users of the News app will get a personalized feed of content and articles, curated by tracking a user’s topics and interests. In addition, News will include channels for each publisher, including its top stories, said The Verge.Publishers will be able to sell their own news apps within the app store and keep 100% of the advertising they sell within those apps. In turn, Apple will help sell unsold inventory and take a percentage of any ads sold, and of course, Apple will still take its 30% cut of subscription revenue earned on apps sold through the app store.Philip Bump of The Washington Post is not impressed. In his June 8 story about Apple’s News app, he says this is just another way for Apple to keep everyone “in the Apple universe,” similar to Facebook’s launch of Instant Articles last month. Apple wants a captive audience to maximize its stronghold in the media marketplace, much like Mark Zuckerburg would like us to do all of our reading, buying, socializing and sharing on Facebook.Bump points out that the News app is probably a good deal for publishers, at least for those who have decided to join the experiment. The Washington Post is not and is, in fact, working on its own news app, says Bump. (See below for publishers who have signed on. Graphic by Apple.)
The publishers listed above get another opportunity to earn revenue and to grow traffic and perhaps reader loyalty. Apple wins because, well, Apple always wins. Readers don’t necessarily care what portal they use to view their news (News, Twitter, Facebook, Flipboard, etc.), as long as the stories they want are easy to find and navigate.Insider Take:It is always a challenge to write about Apple, because it understands both technology and business. Opinions about Apple are as varied as its products. For example, some consider the company a behemoth that only cares about the almighty dollar, while others praise the company for its innovation and willingness to take risks.From the perspective of a subscription company, Apple saw that its Newsstand app wasn’t working, so it created a replacement of sorts – one in which publishers and consumers both benefit. It is hard to see the harm in that, though it is not an original idea. It is also difficult to predict if its latest experiment will be successful. In the meantime, Apple is not likely to lose sleep over the opinions of naysayers. If this product doesn’t work, it will replace it with something else.
