Apple Inc removes 47,000 apps from Chinese App Store, says report

Apple has removed at least 47,000 apps from its App Store in China to comply with the new policy from the state regulators.

According to a report in The Information, China may be closing the loopholes exploited by Apple in previous years, "starting with the recent removal of thousands of apps from the Chinese App Store".

"The technology giant operates the App Store and many other services without government licenses and local partners in China. That has left it vulnerable to regulatory risk in China as Trump attacks TikTok and WeChat in the US," the report said on Tuesday.

The US administration's action against the Chinese behemoths like ByteDance (TikTok) and Tencent (WeChat) has fueld a new war between the two nations.

The Donald Trump administration has also tightened restrictions on Chinese conglomerate Huawei.

Last month, Apple removed at least 4,500 games from China's App Store under the pressure from the Chinese government to comply with its Internet policies.

More than 3,000 games were removed from Apple's China App Store in just two days, which is one of the biggest game purges on Apple's App Store ever.

New regulations require game developers to gain approval from the Chinese regulators before uploading their apps in China's Apple App store.

China is Apple's biggest App Store market, with sales of $16.4 billion a year, according to data from Sensor Tower. In the US, the figures are $15.4 billion a year.

Apple currently hosts roughly 60,000 games in China that are paid for or have in-app purchases.

--IANS

na/