Longtime partner Disney has decided to end its partnership with Apple. Disney will no longer allow new users to purchase Hulu or Disney+ subscriptions through Apple’s App Store. So what made these two tech giants decide to part ways?
Disney is leaving the App Store
At the heart of the matter is Apple’s policy on the App Store. Disney CEO Bob Iger is no longer happy with Apple’s 15% cut of subscriptions through the app store. For years, Apple has been taking a cut of every transaction from app developers and platforms, affecting the revenues of the giant platforms.
Bob Iger has made it clear that he finds these costs unacceptable, and he now plans to sell Disney’s subscriptions directly through his platform. So, from now on, if you want to subscribe to Hulu or Disney+ as an iPhone user, you will have to use Disney’s own website, not the App Store.
Bob Iger took a very clear stance on this issue and said, “We need to look at the way we distribute.” Disney is losing significant revenue in exchange for Apple’s large user base and ease of payment. Iger stated that they started to question this model.
In fact, Netflix followed a similar strategy in 2018. Netflix also withdrew from app stores and started selling subscriptions directly through its website. Meanwhile, Disney and Apple had a long-standing relationship in the past.
Especially during the Steve Jobs era, this cooperation deepened even more. Jobs became one of Disney’s largest shareholders after the merger of Disney and Pixar. Apple and Disney have collaborated on joint projects over the years. For example, Disney apps were developed for Apple’s Vision Pro headset last year. Recently, however, things seem to have gotten tense.
For existing users, not much has changed for now. Those who pay through Apple will continue to do so, but new users will be redirected to Disney’s own site.
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