Apple China App Store Sees 2,500 Games Removed In One Week: SensorTower

Apple Inc. AAPL saw more than 2,500 games removed from the App Store in China in the first week of July, according to data from analytics firm SensorTower.

What Happened

This is an increase of about 400% over a similar period in June, SensorTower noted, as reported earlier by Reuters.

Supercell's farming game "Hay Day," Flaregames's role-playing game "Nonstop Chuck Norris," and Zynga Inc.'s ZNGA card game "Solitaire" were some of the most popular games to be removed from the Apple store, according to SensorTower.

The games removed during the week had 133 million net downloads and $34.7 million in total combined sales during their entire run in the country, SensorTower said.

Why It Matters

The analytics firm noted it couldn't determine the cause of the removal of these apps, but the sudden surge in numbers was notable, Reuters reported.

The move follows Apple's diktat that it won't let developers post updates to their apps, from July 1 onwards, if they don't have relevant regulatory licenses, as required under Chinese law.

The Cupertino-based consumer electronics giant had previously allowed apps to be downloaded while developers waited to receive their license.

Consultancy group AppInChina estimates the move could cost Apple $879 million in lost revenue.

Price Action

Apple shares closed 1.6% higher at $388.23 on Tuesday. The shares traded another 0.7% higher in the after-hours session at $391.12.