Apple’s App Store problem

Hey everyone, it’s Mark. Apple’s $100 billion-a-year App Store business will never be the same again after getting upended by lawsuits. Also: Inside Apple’s artificial intelligence crisis and what comes next; new details on iOS 19, iPadOS 19 and visionOS 3; and CarPlay Ultra is finally ready — if you can afford it.

Last week in Power On: Apple’s 2027 product blitz can’t come soon enough.

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The Starters

The App Store on an iPhone. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Back in 2008, Apple Inc.’s App Store launched with a straightforward idea: Developers from around the world could build apps, sell them to iPhone users and keep 70% of the revenue.

At the time, it was a fair deal. Without Apple’s hardware, software, and its investment in developer tools and platforms, the modern app economy wouldn’t exist. Soon some developers were making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year — or even millions — through the marketplace...

Apple’s Tim Cook, John Giannandrea and Craig Federighi. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

Inside Apple’s decade-long AI crisis, the botched rollout of the new Siri and where the company goes from here. The Bloomberg Big Take story for Monday is all about Apple’s failure to crack generative AI. The article gives the definitive account of the company’s struggles to roll out Apple Intelligence, including the still-missing updates to the Siri voice assistant. It explores the decision-making — or lack thereof — that led to Apple’s current predicament and how the company is pursuing changes in the hopes of a turnaround. The story also takes a look at the different personalities involved, making it well worth a read for anyone interested in Cupertino palace intrigue. 

LISTEN: The Big Take Podcast — Did Apple Sleep Through the AI Revolution?

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