Apple’s App Store in China, Long a Moneymaker, Faces Scrutiny<br />Apple has also removed a number of apps from its Chinese app store at the request of the government, including VPN software<br />that can help internet users evade censorship, and news apps created by The New York Times.<br />So why are these young Chinese software developers who also want to pursue the ‘Chinese Dream’ of becoming entrepreneurs<br />and improving their families’ quality of life through honest work any different?" Lin Wei, a lawyer at Dare & Sure, said the firm had not received a response from either the National Development and Reform Commission or from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the two government agencies with which the complaint was lodged.<br />A statement from Dare & Sure Law Firm, a Beijing-based firm<br />that said it had filed the complaint on behalf of 28 app developers, said, "Steve Jobs and Apple’s ‘American dream’ have inspired the people.<br />The latest came this week, when a law firm representing more than two dozen app developers asked the Chinese<br />authorities to investigate whether Apple’s app store policies violated local pricing and antitrust laws.<br />Ben Thompson said that Apple has been more successful in China than any Western tech company because their business model — selling devices<br />that integrate software and hardware — couldn’t be copied and couldn’t be blocked,<br />Apple said in a statement that, "We continue to expand our local developer relations team in China and are working hard to help developers be successful on the App Store," adding<br />that its guidelines applied "equally to all developers in every country where we operate." Whether any official action will be taken is unclear.
