As Apple’s subscription policy not only continues to rile publishers and developers across industries, but also adds new depths to a federal antitrust investigation into the company, competition is emerging.
Hewlett-Packard, which will launch its new tablet later this summer, has forged a subscription agreement with Time Inc., and now Google has announced its Google One Pass. The new system offers a cheaper subscription alternative for publishers — 10 percent compared to Apple’s 30 percent — that users can access on any device connected to the internet.
The increasing competition has sparked much discussion as to the fairness of the pricing models. The battle, as always, will likely come down to platform and consumer adoption, and the price will work itself out.