If Europe can't fix the App Store, no-one can

There's only one real lesson to draw from the Apple App Store vs European Commission battle, which is that digital markets are broken

- Nicole Kobie

Let me start by saying I prefer physical books to ebooks, but I keep novels on my phone in the hope they'll distract me from scrolling Instagram - and, when it comes to work, searchable ebooks are handy for research. So now and then I try to buy an ebook on my phone. It goes like this: see an ad or post about a book, search it, click the Amazon listing in the Google results, causing the Amazon app to open. The marvels of living in the future, a book in a matter of clicks!

But wait. Under “Kindle Edition”, the following message appears: “This app does not support purchasing of this content.” Sigh, then open the Amazon website and again search for the book so that I can actually purchase it.

What's with the friction? Because Kindle books are digital purchases, Amazon would have to give as much as 30% of the in-app sales price to Apple. Now, it’s perfectly understandable that Amazon doesn’t want to do that. But it’s also reasonable for Apple to want to be paid for running the App Store, as it comes with costs. There is surely a price that would placate them both, but unpicking what that is - and what it would be for less gigantic app-based companies, such as yoga studios and game developers - is no easy task.