China: Apple yanked 25,000 apps from its China App Store

Apple has reportedly pulled more than 25,000 apps from its App Store in China that were deemed to fall foul of Chinese regulations. At least 4,000 of these apps were tagged with the word “gambling,” according to Bloomberg, while the 25,000 figure comes from state broadcaster CCTV.

“Gambling apps are illegal and not allowed on the App Store in China,” Apple said in a statement sent to Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. “We have already removed many apps and developers for trying to distribute illegal gambling apps on our App Store, and we are vigilant in our efforts to find these and stop them from being on the App Store.”

“Apple itself has set up the rules on how to allow apps onto its store, but it didn’t follow that, resulting in the proliferation of bogus lottery apps and gambling apps,” The Wall Street Journal quoted CCTV as saying on Sunday, August 19.

The US company has much at stake in China, its largest market after the US as well as the main production base for the world’s iPhones and iPads. Its market position, however, has come under attack from a coterie of savvy domestic players from Huawei Technologies to Xiaomi which offer users more locally oriented services.

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg