Brief - The Hustle

Apple unveils app development camp the same day it appeals its app-based antitrust suit

Written by Wes Schlagenhauf | Jun 30, 2020 9:12:31 AM

On Monday, the company unveiled its new Entrepreneur Camp that will create an intensive coding lab, specialized in support and ongoing mentoring for female app developers.

The camp will bring women to Apple’s HQ for 2 weeks a quarter to assist with coding, marketing and other mentorship while putting female developers on a fast-track with pre-existing prototypes and ideas for improving apps that are already in Apple’s App Store.

The disparity is real

Female founders have always faced more difficulty than men when it comes to funding. Last year, women received $1.9B in funding, compared to the $83.1B spent on men. 

Of course, women-led tech startups delivered a 35% higher return on investment than male-led tech startups — but who’s counting??

But, it’s not developers who have been vocal about getting screwed over by Apple’s app ecosystem, it’s consumers. 

On Monday, Apple pleaded with the Supreme Court to stop from moving forward with an antitrust lawsuit — brought on by consumers — accusing Apple of monopolizing its App Store, which offers more than 2m apps.

Quite the quandary

The tech giant has long collected a 30% commission fee from developers on app sales, which forces developers to hike their prices — clearly, nothing app developers (who earned more than $26B through the App Store last year) are losing sleep over.

After all, what company in its right mind would speak up and risk losing its spot on the American Dream Team with the Michael Jordan of corporations?