If Apple never made the iPhone, you wouldn't have these 3rd party developers in the first place. Apple built it, they all came along for the ride. And they profited from being on the platform.
To remove the developers all at once now, for sure. The platform would suffer. Many would switch to Android. As that would be the only other option. Now, tell me. Do you think Google will lower their commission if something like that happened?
And at this point. Most of what people need a phone to do. It comes with. Make phone calls, take pictures/videos, Social media, Get on the web. Get directions, listen to music and movies. Finance/Banking for the most part is web based. Apps are nicer but, you can operate many via web page. NFC works for transit, and CC payments at POS terminals. Bluetooth for headphones, and WiFi. Much of the basics are all covered for any mobile phone device. Productivity apps could also all be covered in some way by Apple if they wanted to. If all 3rd party developers left the platform today. I could still operate fairly well on my iPhone.
Thats... ....can't find a phrase that would make moderators happy
Apple didn't cause most of these businesses to suddenly appear. Out of the hundreds of apps I have, what are most of them? Physical stores, banks, online stores, restaurant chains. Places that existed BEFORE the iPhone was ever introduced.
Things that could have been done via web application (and actually ARE done with web application for desktop users). Its a convenience to me that I can quickly login via the apps, use the phone to authenticate me, and have a first-class experience. Its not creating these companies from scratch....Target, HomeDepot, Capital One, Barclays, Discover, they all existed before the iPhone.
Now, these companies aren't getting charged by Apple because they sell physical things or they are banks.... so Apple makes everyone else subsidize them. Maybe they should just go down to a distribution fee, $x per thousand downloads similar to the cost of distributing something over the web. Then the typical 3%+little margin for credit card + platform fee if you *chose* to use Apple's payment system. 30% is ridiculously outragous.
And no, iPhone wouldn't be where it is today without the 3rd party devs. As someone who used the first iPhone, while impressive - it was extremely limited before the App Store.... now the phones cost what, 2-3x what they did back then? And what exactly are you paying for, do you need all that high-powered silicon for browsing the web and the built in photos app and Notes? The Windows phones I had previous to the first iPhone, while being low quality, you could bring your own Windows CE apps because that was expected of anything that was sold as a general purpose computing platform combined with a phone.
Not to mention, soon the US will be the only country under law that isn't banning this way of doing business. Countries all over the world have said no, charging 30% fees for something you didn't actually create (the apps, or even moreso digital content) and costs you minimal overhead is not acceptable. So, if you want to give money to apple that they didn't earn, I guess have at it. The rest of the world has already moved on from this argument.
This isn't a "Well walmart gets to make x%" comparison either covering their costs. Walmart and most modern retailers RENT shelf space, and if a product doesn't sell they make the vendor take it back. They have physical storage costs to cover, employees, theft. It does not compare to virtual distribution in any way.... Walmart charges about 25% markup, but net margins after all of those costs is around 4-5%. Digital distribution does not have those same expenses, and unlike say AI, running digital distribution is a well solved, low cost and cleanly scalable operation in 2026... if Walmart sells you a 3rd party device with subscription, or a magazine with subscription cards inside, Walmart is not entitled to collect money for things they actually didn't sell.
And quite frankly, since my phone isn't subsidized by Apple, I am paying for all the R&D that went into the phone. If its "not enough" at their 60% margins on the Pro Max line of phones to cover the R&D, then they are doing something wrong. Apple under Tim Cook has just been plain greedy, pushing record profits for shareholders while gouging everyone with pricing on RAM and storage that the same as buying it 10-years ago because some people seem to think Apple is entitled to it and keep paying for it. Apple would still be very profitable without pulling all this crap, and honestly.... maybe if their margins were a bit tighter they'd feel the fire under them to innovate instead of just coasting.
