By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff reporter
South Korean developers are expressing discontent at Apple's decision to discard a number of music-themed applications from its increasingly popular iPhone.
Removed from Apple's App Store content platform were apps from Korean music streaming sites ``Bugs Music,'' ``Soribada'' and ``Mnet,'' which were among the most frequently downloaded programs among Korean users of iPhone and iPod Touch multimedia players.
Subsequently, the developers of the apps fear of the possibility that their ousting from the App Store could be permanent.
As predicted, Apple Korea, which is consistently the biggest information void this side of North Korea, refused to explain why the previously-approved apps had been pulled, with its spokesman Steve ``No Comment'' Park having this reporter wonder whether he should ever bother to call again.
However, an official from Neowiz, the Internet company that distributes the Bugs Music app, said Apple took issue with the service's payment method that allowed users to tag the costs to their monthly mobile-phone bills.
``Apple says it doesn't have a problem with credit-card-based payment. However, developing a credit-card-payment option for smartphones is trickier and we will need some more time,'' said a Neowiz official.
``We have resubmitted the Bugs Music app for App Store approval Thursday night, but left out the payment part. We will present a complete version of the app as soon as we can.''
Apple's reviewing process for content available on App Store usually takes just a few days, but sometimes it can be up to several weeks, he said.
The reasoning regarding the payment system, which the Neowiz official said was included in a message sent to the company on Wednesday, generates more questions than answers.
The smartphone giant had never before prevented Korean developers from creating apps that enable phone-based payment, an option also provided by the apps of online retail sites like Yes 24 and Gmarket, which remain accessible on App Store. And the removal of Mnet was actually among the applications that didn't allow phone-based payment.
``We haven't received any word from Apple regarding the phone-based payment,'' said a Yes 24 spokesman.
Some industry watchers wonder whether the ousting of the Korean music apps from App Store is an indicator of bigger changes in Apple's global business strategies.
There has been speculation that Apple is pushing to introduce a streaming music service through iTunes, the platform from which App Store is operated. The theory seemed to gain some weight after Apple killed free music streaming site, Lala, last month, just after acquiring the service last year.
Currently, iTunes users download songs onto their iPhones, iPods or computers, but an Internet streaming service will allow them to keep their collections stored on the Internet rather than their devices.
The latest rumor has the company announcing its version of music streaming at its annual developer conference in San Francisco on June 7.
The Neowiz official downplayed the speculations, saying he doesn't believe Apple's decision with Bugs Music was connected to any secretive aspiration about launching its own music streaming service.
He pointed out that Apple has no problem with Spotify, a British music streaming site that provides an App Store app and charges users with credit cards.
``We have been doing some research of our own, and Korea seems to be the only place where phone-based payment is conventional. Apple could be merely attempting to unify its payment standards across different markets,'' he said.
``For paid apps, Apple and the developers share revenue at a 7-to-3 cut. However, for apps that are freely downloaded, but charge users for accessing premium services, either with credit cards or through phones, Apple doesn't get a cut anyway, so this isn't a revenue-sharing issue either.''
Apple has managed to sell around 600,000 iPhones since their late November release through local wireless carrier, KT, igniting a smartphone boom and pushing the telecommunications industry on the cusp of a mobile Internet explosion.