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Fortnite
Source: PlayStation
Epic Games and Spotify responded on Tuesday to Apple’s decision to reduce App Store fees to 15% for developers who have less than $ 1 million in net annual sales on the App Store.
In short: they are not impressed. App development is a most successful business, and the top 1% of publishers in Apple and Google stores account for around 93% of sales, according to a 2019 estimate from the analytics firm of Sensor Tower applications. Epic and Spotify, which are likely in that top 1% category, see Apple’s move as an attempt to blunt criticism while doing little to address the underlying issue of unfair pricing for developers.
“It would be something to celebrate if it weren’t for a calculated move by Apple to divide app makers and preserve their monopoly on stores and payments, again breaking the promise to treat all developers to. equally, ”Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on Tuesday.
“By granting special 15% conditions to select thief barons like Amazon, and now also for small independents, Apple hopes to eliminate enough critics so that they can get away with their blockade of competition and a tax. 30% off most in-app purchases. “
Sweeney said Android and iOS need to open up to competition for payments in order to level the playing field between developers and service providers.
“Apple’s anti-competitive behavior threatens all developers on iOS, and this latest move further demonstrates that their App Store policies are arbitrary and capricious, “Spotify said. Choosing, Ensuring Fair Competition and Creating Conditions of Competition fair for all. “
Among Apple’s most vocal critics are Epic Games and Spotify. Epic sued Apple earlier this year after the game developer released a version of Fortnite that allowed users to skip Apple’s integrated payment platform, forgoing Apple’s 30% discount, was banned from the App Store.
Spotify has criticized Apple’s practice and partnered with Epic Games, Match Group and other developers to create a non-profit organization called “The Coalition for App Fairness” that fights for a lawsuit against Apple’s in-app commission fee. He also responded to Apple’s changes on Tuesday.
A “ symbolic gesture ”
The Coalition for App Fairness said Apple’s change was a “symbolic gesture” in a tweet.
“$ 1,000,001 in revenue is an arbitrary benchmark. Subtract 30% Apple, 20% Marketing, 30% Tax and you have enough to eventually build and maintain the product – but forget to pay your employees or make money. profits. “
David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder and CTO of Basecamp, a project management and team communication app, also spoke on Tuesday.
“Apple is a $ 2,000 billion company that sells $ 1,000 phones to consumers who have purchased these devices and want to use the best apps they can access,” Heinemeier Hansson said on CNBC’s Squawk Alley Tuesday. “Apple has to turn it around and look at this and say ‘hey hey, these developers are selling our phones, we should be paying them. “He added that Apple shouldn’t” shake “the developers.
Andy Yen, founder and CEO of the ProtonMail messaging app, said the change is positive but a “thinly disguised attempt to evade regular scrutiny.”
“It’s ironic that Apple, a $ 2 trillion company, considers any company that makes over $ 1 million is making way too much money and having to pay higher fees,” Yen said.
“What small businesses need is not a slightly cheaper monopoly, but a real choice of payment methods in the App Store. Only by allowing real competition in payments from the App Store that a really competitive fee (neither 30% nor 15%) can be secured, ”he added.
The App Association, an industry group that represents app developers, welcomed the policy change.
“Today’s announcement by Apple marks an important moment in the evolution of the app economy by recognizing the critical role small businesses like our members play in the growth and innovation of the app market.” App Association president Morgan Reed said in a statement.
The House Justice Subcommittee on Antitrust released a report in October that Apple has “monopoly power” over the distribution of software on iPhones, but also said that Apple’s ecosystem had produced benefits for consumers and developers.
Apple responded to this report and said it does not have a dominant market share in any of the categories in which it operates.
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