After Epic’s numerous lawsuits against Apple, it seems that the issue of the company’s high percentages of its app store is far from over. And it is that after the company was forced to offer a reduction on the commission to developers who publish their applications in the App Store, it has now announced that it will increase other rates to compensate for its “losses”.
Specifically, as they have shared from Apple Slashdot, this action comes after the Dutch regulatory bodies ordered it to allow developers to opt out of the App Store payment platform, after what Apple announced that “would reduce his commission by only 3%” on the 30% he normally charges«. A move that follows Google’s proposal to reduce its commission by 4% for developers using alternative payment systems in South Korea.
However, Apple seems unwilling to give up that percentage, having announced that this measure will be accompanied by increased charges for administrative expenses, such as requesting permission to use a specific API and maintaining a separate version of the application, with percentage figures equivalent to the reduced amounts. In short, the company will continue to receive the same amount of income.
So Apple hopes to get rid of antitrust authorities by raising fees in exchange for a one-minute reduction in the cut it takes. The Tame Apple Press thinks this is a brilliant idea and will result in huge profits for Apple and show those nasty antitrust watchdogs who’s boss.
On the other hand, there have been many who have pointed out that this action “nullifies the purpose of the law”, using Twitter to criticize a movement that they have branded as “absolutely vile”:
« This says it all about Tim Cook’s Apple and what he thinks of developers. Everyone on your executive team should be ashamed, and some of them shouldn’t be here when it’s all over” or “After paying the 3% to your payment processor, the Apple’s 27% commission takes you back to 30%. This is comedy. Incredible and ridiculous comedy» are some of the messages that continue to accumulate.
For the time being, neither Apple nor the authorities have spoken again on the matter, but we have no doubt that it is still an issue on the table.