Time Inc. enables in-app iOS subscriptions after long delay
updated 01:10 pm EDT, Thu June 14, 2012
Apple, Time may have settled terms
Publisher Time Inc. has enabled in-app subscriptions for the iPad editions of its magazines, reports note. Until recently, anyone wanting to subscribe to the iPad versions of titles like Sports Illustrated had to have an existing subscription elsewhere, unless they wanted to buy each issue individually at extra cost. Users can now pay $4 for a month of iPad issues, or $39 for an annual subscription. Individual issues are $5 apiece.
Time has been a long-standing holdout against Apple's in-app subscription terms. The latter party claims a 30 percent cut of App Store subscription revenue, making iOS support a costly proposition for publishers in some cases. Apple also prevents publishers from automatically acquiring the personal data normally taken from print subscribers, which is used to produce demographics for advertisers.
It's unknown if Time has simply conceded or if both companies have come to some sort of behind-the-scenes arrangement. Apple, though, has so far always refused to budge on the 30 percent revenue cut, which it claims on all transactions at the App Store.
