Pavel Durov, CEO of messaging app Telegram, said Apple’s removal of Telegram from the Chinese App Store last week did not affect the app’s download numbers in China. Instead, Durov criticized Apple’s app store policies, calling them a “walled garden.” Honestly, this is not the first time a CEO has bashed out on Apple.
He confirmed Apple removed Telegram and several other apps mentioning national security concerns raised by the Chinese government. And Durov also said that the move was targeted at Apple, not Telegram. I wonder how?
He also criticized Apple’s restrictions on app installations, claiming users can easily switch to Android phones, which allow app sideloading. He predicted this would lead to a shrinking iPhone market share in China. He said:
Once again, Apple shot itself in the foot with its centralized ‘walled garden’ app policies. Unlike iPhones, most Android phones allow sideloading apps outside app stores — such as the direct version of Telegram — so more users from China will migrate to Android…As a result of this change, the iPhone market share in China will keep shrinking.
Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment. WhatsApp, Threads, and Signal were also removed.
But things aren’t similar globally. Thanks to the newly introduced DMA, the European Union recently forced Apple to allow alternative app stores on iPhones sold in the region.
Accessing Telegram in China requires a VPN to bypass the country’s internet censorship. However, Durov claimed that Chinese users have found ways to continue using Telegram.
Overall, recently, things haven’t been great for Apple when it comes to China, either this news of people possibly transitioning to Android to sideload apps or the fact that iPhone sales dropped by 19% in China when compared to Q1 last year. Not just this, Apple has been struggling with its manufactures in India as 50% of the iPhones made there “aren’t good enough.”
More here.