I co-own a publishing company. For each book we sell, retailers pay 50% of the cover price. From the 50% that remains, we pay our distributor the industry average of nearly 30% for warehousing, sales, distribution, tax collection, reporting, ISBN, etc. We pay for creative talent, production, printing and shipping, and marketing. That usually leaves us about 3-5% margin per book. It is what it is and our cover prices reflect our costs, but it does make me wonder why governments have a problem with Apple charging developers 15-30% for their similar sales and distribution services or why Apple is criticized for resisting opening up their products and services to third parties as dictated by random government entities.
Second, if Apple (or any company for that matter) lowers its service fees from 30% to 10%, does anyone seriously believe that the retail price for the consumer will be lowered to reflect that lower cost? And if consumers want more than one software distributor for the same app, can’t they always buy an Android phone from any number of manufacturers? I don’t see any abusive behavior toward consumers actually happening here.
Second, if Apple (or any company for that matter) lowers its service fees from 30% to 10%, does anyone seriously believe that the retail price for the consumer will be lowered to reflect that lower cost? And if consumers want more than one software distributor for the same app, can’t they always buy an Android phone from any number of manufacturers? I don’t see any abusive behavior toward consumers actually happening here.
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