Well, the end result is a duopoly they will eventually be broken up by the government.
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Apple to Collect 27% Commission on Third-Party App Payment Systems in the Netherlands
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If Apple thinks this is going to stop regulators…
Apple knows this is not what regulators wanted them to do. This will be rejected like their scheme in South Korea.
Apple knows this is not what regulators wanted them to do. This will be rejected like their scheme in South Korea.
It’s not free, developers pay $100 per year fee to be able to develop and publish apps. I’m perfectly ok with Apple increasing that fee to $500 or $1000, but they’re not entitled to a 30% cut of all digital commerce conducted through someone else’s app.
Remember...Epic charged 12% for handling payment processing only in their own store. For full service similar to what Apple does for 15%/30%, Epic would charge 25%.
This approach by Apple shows that Epic was completely full of it when it came to the complaints about the commission.
That's how retail stores work. They take a cut on sales. And Apple isn't just a middle man providing a store. They're providing the hardware and OS as well, both of which have major updates on an annual basis.
And then Microsoft store would charge 20%, someone else 15% forcing everyone to compete on lower rates.
We also would be able to use alternative compilers, IDEs, etc., alternative frameworks and much more.
Anyway there are many ways for Apple to stay in the game, but that would demand innovation from them.
Can't innovate anymore my ass, right?!
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lmao might as well not bother and go through IAP at this point
Considering whatever payment gateway they’re using will take at least 1% themselves, with services like PayPal taking more around the neighborhood of 3%
Considering whatever payment gateway they’re using will take at least 1% themselves, with services like PayPal taking more around the neighborhood of 3%
This is exactly how Horace Dediu calculated it in the CNET article I linked to further up, it seems perfectly reasonable to me. With 70-80 billion a year (and growing fast) revenue, about 10 of the 30% comes from actual cost. So 20% of the app/in-app sticker price is Apple's bottom line. An EBT margin of 20% of revenue does not seem unreasonable to me at all, for any company. BMW was mentioned higher up, an apt comparison as Apple's services revenue will likely surpass the BMW group within a couple of years, they are in that ballpark when business is good. Microsofts income margin, perhaps more comparable as a (primarily) software company, is above 40%. So again, what is it about Apple's commision that is arbitrarily "unreasonable"? (not asking you specifically just because I quoted you
)
Not really, but they will try.
This fight will go longer, and overall Apple will lose reputation, devs and users for bullying.
The negative headlines won't go away anytime soon, and Apple will stay in people heads as monopolist abusing the market at all costs.
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Which percentage do you believe they are entitled to, and why?
The 100$ fee is not covering the cost of a developer account, noone in their right mind is suggesting that. That is likely just a way to limit the number of accounts they have to deal with, so that people don't create them just for fun. But it isn't actually relevant, because noone charges a fee to "cover cost". You charge a fee to "make money". The question is, how much money do you believe it is reasonable to make (percentage wise!).
FYI: Epic's rates WERE what they considered competitive. They actually touted the 12% rate for payment processing only when they first filed their lawsuit. Now Apple is saying payment processing is only 3% of either their 15% rate (under 1 million in revenue) or their 30% rate (over 1 million in revenue). Obviously Tinder is making over 1 million with their iOS app, thus the 27%. Tinder is a multi-billion dollar company now.
Developers should be thanking Apple for never raising their cut. They could easily take 60-70%. It's the ungrateful attitude that makes it hard to sympathize with them.
This companies agrees to these kinds of audits whenever they buy enterprise licensing from Microsoft or any other software vendor connected to BSA.
Microsoft are doing license audits all the time in Europe often using some of the larger consulting firms.
By the way: If you want to be pedantic, at least read what I actually wrote: It is (potentially) completely free to download the app. This was my statement, not that it was free to make the app available to download.
All that does is shift the cost away from the high earners to the low earners.
Ah okay, that helps me understand better. Thanks. I know that Apple collects 30% normally for IAP, which makes sense since that's their own system.
The title of the article made me think they were somehow collecting 27% from each purchase made via a third-party payment system, which was weird to me because ... at which point does that money flow through Apple's systems? That's where I was confused.
Let's see if I understand this now... so, if a developer uses a third-party payment system, then Apple doesn't get a percent of each sale (and they also wouldn't know what the user is purchasing). So instead, they charge the developer 27% of... what?
They are entitled to demand any percentage they want, even 100%, as long there is sideloading and alternative AppStores.
So just to clarify:
- Developers can process payments outside the app
- Developers will then be responsible for managing refunds or other payment related actions
- Apple wants/gets 27% of all outside transactions
- Developers must tell Apple how much money it is making on outside sales so that Apple can audit the payments
Although Apple could, if they wanted to (and I believe they would!), make the fee relative to whatever they feel like: Number of downloads, company revenue, actual in-app revenue(!), etc. It's clear that Apple is focused on getting paid by high-rollers, they don't care if they get pocket change from small developers. And I'm not at all in doubt that this is a business move and not from the good of their hearts, and that's fine by me.
Again, unless they are deemed a monopoly (or duopoly to make Alex happy), in which case lawmakers will have to set the terms for them.
Side loading already exists on Android and the vast majority of Android users don't use side loading. The idea that side loading provides a significant boost to competition isn't supported by the actual facts.
With the 30% cut the money flows through Apple. With the 27% cut the money does not flow through Apple. Apple will charge the 27% commission after the money has flowed through the 3rd party payment provider for purchases initiated from an iOS app.
What’s Costco’s market share? Am I able to stock my refrigerator with food from stores other than Costco?