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Epic Games and Spotify, united in their fight against Apple, each released statements on Wednesday criticizing the iPhone maker following the announcement of its new App Store fee cut for developers earning less than one. million dollars a year.
The discount is expected to apply to around 98% of iOS app developers who only generated 5% of App Store revenue last year, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. But those who are ineligible include Epic, Spotify, and many big app makers who have in recent months expressed growing concern about how Apple runs the App Store and the rules it imposes on developers. .
Apple announced the cut earlier today as part of a new small business program launched Jan. 1, touting the move as a way to ease the financial burden of being a small developer of an app or indie game creator and further assist creators during the covid19 pandemic. But Epic and Spotify see the move as nothing more than majesty, a move to appease critics and regulators while doing little to address what companies see as systemic issues with the structure of the App Store and the iOS ecosystem.
“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, once again breaking the promise to process all developers equally, “said Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, in a statement. Sweeney was instrumental in Epic’s decision to include its own payment options in Fortnite, a decision that prompted Apple and Google to remove it from their respective stores. Epic then filed antitrust lawsuits against the companies. Both are in progress.
“By giving special 15 percent terms to some thief barons like Amazon, and now also small independents, Apple hopes to eliminate enough criticism so that they can escape their blockade of competition and 30 percent tax on most in-app purchases, ”Sweeney continued. “But consumers will continue to pay inflated prices raised by the Apple tax.”
Spotify released its own statement, calling the App Store rules “arbitrary and capricious,” regardless of this recent change and citing antitrust arguments against Apple’s long-standing policy of requiring developers to use their own. payment system instead of one of their own or that of a third party. :
Apple’s anti-competitive behavior threatens all iOS developers, and this latest move further demonstrates that their App Store policies are arbitrary and capricious. While we find their fees to be excessive and discriminatory, Apple’s binding of its own payment system to the App Store and the communication restrictions it uses to punish developers who choose not to use it, put applications like Spotify at a significant disadvantage compared to their competitors. a service. Ensuring that the market remains competitive is an essential task. We hope that regulators ignore Apple’s “showcase” and act urgently to protect consumer choice, ensure fair competition and create a level playing field for all.
Sweeney added that Android and iOS “need to be fully open to competition in stores and payments” and that Apple is “gerrymandering the community with a patchwork of specials”. Epic and Spotify are both challenging Apple’s defense that its rules apply to all developers, a CEO used by Tim Cook during testimony before the House antitrust subcommittee last summer. With its new policy separating app makers who earn less than $ 1 million from those who make more, Epic and Spotify see Apple further undermining its defense of the App Store as a fair and level playing field for everybody.
Epic and Spotify are both part of an industry group called the Coalition for App Fairness, formed in late September following Epic’s lawsuits against Apple and Google and including other major Apple critics like the parent company of Tinder Match. Group and the secure email provider ProtonMail. Membership in the group has since doubled in size, and the group also released a statement today condemning Apple for implementing a “symbolic gesture” instead of addressing issues related to the app’s uneven conditions. Store.
“Today’s announcement ignores fundamental flaws in the App Store,” the statement read. The group points out key points it says Apple’s new app store cut ignores, as Apple owns the customer relationship and forces developers to use its payment processor. “The Coalition for App Fairness advocates for meaningful progress and change. Until Apple updates its policies to embrace App Store principles and create a fair ecosystem, developers around the world will be in the same place they’ve always been. ”
Well-known software developer and co-founder of Basecamp, David Heinemeier Hansson, an outspoken tech industry critic who publicly argued with Apple last summer over the design of the customer’s mobile app. His company’s courier, Hey, joined the chorus of critics this morning.
Machiavelli would be so proud of Apple. By trying to divide the App Store opposition with conditional charity concessions, they – a $ 2T conglomerate – manage to paint any developer making over $ 1 million as greedy, always wanting more. As intelligent as his patient. https://t.co/SLTh3qMOnP
– DHH (@dhh) November 18, 2020
Hansson thread is long and hot, but the central point it makes is that Apple still charges a large amount of money for the services of the App Store. Hansson does not believe he can justify the cost. “If you are a developer earning $ 1 million, Apple is still asking to be paid $ 150,000 just to process payments on the monopoly computing platform in the United States. It’s obscene! You could hire two people at that price, still have money for CC processing, ”he wrote. “And to frame this cut – $ 150,000 !!! – because some kind of noble charity is really irrelevant. Yes, it’s better than the even more obscene $ 300,000 it used to cost to deal $ 1 million, but that’s like saying it’s better to have your arm cut off than your hand. ”
Hansson also echoes Epic and Spotify in saying that the problem is not just with the size of the cut, but also with Apple telling you to use its own payment method and banning competing stores, reinforcing thus its control over all transactions on the Platform. “The fundamental problem is the monopoly claim that Apple should process all payments, own all customer relationships,” added Hansson.
But even if Apple did lower its rates – not as a conditional charity for small developers, but across the board – we still wouldn’t be done! The root of the problem is the monopoly claim that Apple must process all payments, own all customer relationships.
– DHH (@dhh) November 18, 2020
Update November 18, 11:10 a.m.ET: Added a statement from the Coalition for App Fairness.
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