That Apple makes money from apps is not news. But it's the way it works that has hacked off fanboys and disenchanted developers. Ian Burrell examines how loyalty has been tested to the limit.
The big question is whether this discontent - also prevalent among app developers
- will filter down to the millions of people who have until now had a love affair
with the unrivalled aesthetics and sheer functionality of Apple's products
Apple is the most respected company in the world, in the eyes of money managers consulted for a poll published this month by Barron's, the influential American financial magazine.
In terms of wealth, it long ago surpassed Microsoft and last month topped PetroChina to become the second most valuable company on earth, trailing only Exxon Mobil. Meanwhile, a survey of young Britons, Project Chatter, revealed last week that the Apple brand was more familiar to them than any other.
And yet never has the business which Steve Jobs has nurtured over the past 35 years had so many enemies – and not just the other technology giants who envy its success. Last week in Barcelona, mobile phone operators lined up to slate Apple for its "walled garden" approach, which requires them to provide the infrastructure for its increasingly luxurious apps without receiving any revenue in return. Then in Berlin, publishers came forward to say how much they liked Google's new One Pass system for charging users for internet access to their content, while others complained about the Apple offering, which was unveiled by Mr Jobs – who's still overseeing the company despite being on medical leave – the day before and demands 30 per cent of all subscriptions sold through its App Store.
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