American technology company Apple removed more than 700 apps, including several popular ones, from its Chinese market app store on Tuesday. People discuss the cause on social media platforms.
Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo confirmed on Tuesday that their app was removed from Apple’s App Store due to technical flaws in the latest release.
„The company has contacted Apple and will re-launch the app after an immediate correction,“ said Pinduoduo public relations official on Tuesday’s Global Times.
According to the employee, the versions of the app in Google Play on the software platform Android and the downloads of the iOS app (business version) were not affected.
After the news about Pinduoduo spread in Chinese social media, some users found that Pinduoduo was not the only Chinese app removed from the Apple App Store.
According to a report by the Chinese news website toutiao.com, a total of 718 apps were removed from the Chinese app store on Tuesday, including Sogou’s map and navigation apps
Apple has not responded to a request from the Global Times until the time of publication.
„It’s probably more than a technical problem, because if that’s the case, it should be relatively easy to fix and the apps would not have to be removed that long,“ said Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based Internet analyst.
„It’s probably because those apps violated Apple’s app store policies, such as the purchase rules.“
Regardless of the cause, this latest episode shows Apple’s lack of transparency in app store policies, Liu said.
„If Apple stays on the heels and refuses to communicate more effectively with app developers and consumers, it will be felt as a result,“ Liu said. Apple is already losing ground in the Chinese market.
