• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 31, 2011

No one said making the move to mobile and tablet devices would be easy. Yet, media watchers are still surprised that The Financial Times and Apple have failed to compromise over new requirements that in-app subscription payments must go through the iTunes Store.

As such, "The paper's iPad and iPhone apps have disappeared from iTunes Store," paidContent reports. "Apple says the FT took them down to comply with its new terms." "The Financial Times has become the first big name to pull its iOS apps as a result of Apple's new app subscription rules," ars technica notes.

Adds ReadWriteWeb: "Apple's new subscription rules requiring publishers to fork over 30% of revenue generated from apps in the iTunes Store have claimed their biggest victim to date." "It is a blow to the FT, whose apps had processed subscription transactions independently," paidContent adds. "Last year, 10% of its new digital subscriptions were taken out on iPads."

Still, "It is understandable, perhaps, that the Financial Times, which has been a newspaper in the UK for some time, would baulk at the idea of a 30% Apple bite of revenue," The Inquirer writes.

Yet, "It remains to be seen what kind of impact this will have on the FT's overall subscription revenue," according to ReadWriteWeb. "While it may take a hit initially, if they can properly market the Web app to tablet owners (iPads, Android tablets or otherwise), perhaps they can manage to make up the difference."

An FT spokesman tells Reuters that the company is planning future apps for the Apple App Store -- including one for the FT's luxury weekend magazine, 'How To Spend It,' as early as September. Notes Reuters: "This would be funded by advertising, however, not subscriptions, so there would be no conflict with Apple over who owns the subscriber data."