Apple's new App Store rules affect Amazon's Kindle
Amazon must remove link to Web e-bookstore from app, offer in-app purchases so Apple can take its 30% cut
Publishers and content sellers must remove any links within their apps to outside-the-App Store purchasing options, Apple said, a requirement that means Amazon.com must eliminate the link to the Kindle Store that it currently provides in its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps.
Subscriptions and other digital content can still be sold outside the App Store -- thus sidestepping the 30% cut -- said Apple, but the company will now demand that if that's the case, the app also include in-Store purchases.
"Apple does require that if a publisher chooses to sell a digital subscription separately outside of the app, that same subscription offer must be made available, at the same price or less, to customers who wish to subscribe from within the app," Apple's statement read.
For periodicals such as magazines and newspapers, publishers can set the length of a subscription to weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly. Consumers select a subscription period, then click to order, which dings the credit card associated with their iTunes account.
"Apple processes all payments, keeping the same 30% share that it does today for other In-App Purchases," the company said.
