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San Francisco (AFP)
US giant Apple announced Wednesday that it will cut App Store fees for small developers in half, a move taken under pressure from lawsuits related to its 30% fee and increased antitrust surveillance of the online market.
The iPhone maker said developers who make less than $ 1 million selling apps in its store will only pay 15% of their revenue to Apple.
However, the announcement will mean no change for developers who generate big revenue from very popular apps like Spotify and the successful game publisher Epic Games.
Apple said the “overwhelming majority” of developers will benefit from its launched program to boost businesses during the pandemic, which goes into effect January 1.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
“We are launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store and to create the kind of quality apps our customers love,” he added.
– Monopolistic behavior? –
According to research firm Sensor Tower, Apple’s move affects apps that generate less than 5% of their App Store revenue.
Apple says its market has around 1.8 million apps, most of them free.
The App Store in 2019 generated about $ 519 billion in trade in 2019, and about 85 percent went to developers, according to the company.
But Apple’s policies have been the subject of growing attention.
The developer of the hit game Fortnite, Epic Games and Apple are facing in US courts to determine whether the former’s tight control of its App Store and its collection of 30% of application revenue configure monopoly behavior.
Therefore, Apple withdrew Fortnite from its store in August after Epic Games released an update that evades payment to the Californian company.
Meanwhile, Swedish music streaming giant Spotify has filed a lawsuit with EU authorities claiming that Apple has abused its dominant position to charge unfair fees for online services.
The Coalition for App Fairness, a newly formed association that includes Spotify, Fortnite and many other app developers, has expressed disappointment at Apple’s move.
“The developers want a level playing field from Apple, NOT a symbolic gesture,” the coalition said in a Twitter statement. “Apple’s announcement today is a calculated measure and ignores fundamental flaws in the App Store, in particular.”
The group said the million-dollar threshold is arbitrary, and Apple’s policies continue to hurt many app developers.
© 2020 AFP
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