Apple’s New Services Come With Built-In Conflicts
Can it fairly sell its own apps and those made by rivals?
The ability to tip the scales is too hard to ignore.
Photographer: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
Expect to hear a lot of hyperbole at an Apple Inc. event on Monday — I’m already dreading the hoopla — about the company transforming entertainment and news. (Is it, though?) One thing Apple isn’t likely to discuss is its growing conflicts of interest.
The company plans to unveil a video service that will include TV series and movies backed by Apple and provide access to existing Netflix-like digital video services (but not to Netflix itself). Apple also plans a subscription service for an online collection of news publications and magazines. The announcements are part of Apple’s effort to push more add-on hardware and digital services to offset stagnating sales of iPhones, which generate 60 percent of Apple’s revenue.