SMARTPHONES: Apple Cleans Up China App Store

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Bottom line: Apple’s cleanup of its China app store reflects the deceptive marketing that often occurs on the Chinese Internet, and also Apple’s more transparent approach towards its actions in China.

Apple cleans up China app store

iPhone users in China are discovering a new look at Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) local app store, following the removal of more than 10,000 apps over a one-day period late last week. App store users first noticed something unusual when it appeared that the popular news app called Jinri Toutiao, or Today’s Headlines, suddenly seemed to disappear from Apple’s China store. But further examination showed that Apple was simply removing redundant versions of the app, many of which had very similar names and identical appearances.

This kind of flooding of the market with many results for a single app probably isn’t unique to China, though I expect the practice is probably quite rampant in a country obsessed with winning business at any cost. In this case some might argue that companies like Today’s Headlines aren’t duping consumers and are simply trying to get their names returned in as many search results as possible. But clearly Apple’s new cleanup shows it doesn’t like the practice and believes it degrades the quality of its China app store. 

According to media reports, Apple removed a hefty 13,456 apps from its China store in the 24 hours from August 4 to 5. (Chinese article) One report points out that Apple is constantly removing apps from its store, though this particular cleanup is far bigger than the 1,837 apps removed on average each day recently. The figure is also more than the 12,803 apps that were removed in the entire previous week combined.

Removed apps in this latest cleanup all came from just 861 accounts, meaning each of those had 15.7 apps removed, on average. Among that group, 23 accounts previously had more than 100 apps each, hinting at the huge rate of redundancy for some of those. The most egregious offender, an account called Cristian Teixeira, had a staggering 818 apps in the store.

In addition to elimination of these duplicate accounts, Apple was also targeting “low quality” apps in the cleanup, the reports say. In what looks like a noteworthy element to the story, the usually secretive Apple appears to be talking with reporters about its latest move in a bid to be more transparent. I expect it conducts similar cleanups in all the markets where it operates, though perhaps not on this scale.

Land of Cyber Junk

The cleanup seems to confirm China’s reputation as a land the for cyber junk, and also a land where Internet deception is quite common business practice. Most of these app developers would probably argue there’s nothing illegal about what they’re doing, and they’re simply trying to boost their chances of getting installed by new users. But their practices are confusing to consumers, and designed to crowd out other rival apps that might have similar names.

Apple’s relative transparency in this case is also probably aimed at avoiding negative publicity that has recently dogged the company in China. Much of that is centered on plunging iPhone sales as the company faces stiff competition from domestic smartphone rivals. But it also includes that blocking of Apple’s online book and movie services in China earlier this year, and its loss in a relatively minor trademark lawsuit.

The last thing that Apple needs in China right now is another new scandal involving companies claiming they were treated unfairly on the company’s app store. Such complaints would be largely baseless, but media might report them anyhow in a negative manner if Apple stuck to its usual policy of silence.

Such a policy may work in more mature markets like the US where companies generally play by the rules. But Apple has already learned that China isn’t like such western markets, and requires constant vigilance for fraudsters and also a high degree of openness to avoid landing at the center of one-sided negative publicity.

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