CNN: Apple will slash App Store fees as antitrust pressure mounts
Apple said Wednesday it will slash the fees it charges app developers from 30% to 15% if the developer made less than $1 million in the prior year.
The change for small businesses will go into effect on Jan. 1, Apple (AAPL) said, while apps that earn more than $1 million a year will continue to be covered by Apple’s existing fee structure, which charges 30%.
It was not immediately clear how many small app developers will be affected by the change; Apple’s announcement said only that the update will benefit “the vast majority of developers” on the App Store. Apple declined to elaborate.
More than 97% of iOS app publishers tracked by app metrics firm Sensor Tower generate less than $1 million a year in app-based consumer spending. Those developers’ economic activity accounted for an estimated 5% of the iOS App Store’s total revenues in 2019, Sensor Tower told CNN Business.
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Advocates of aggressive antitrust action hailed Wednesday’s decision as an outgrowth of the public pressure.
“Just the specter of antitrust action creates market structure change,” tweeted Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, citing the House investigation and the Epic litigation.