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Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

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Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#21

Post by Spivak »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #10

Doesn't Valve take 30% from games on Steam? But they're complaining Apple taking 30% is too much? I also don't really think the Apple/Google fee is that unreasonable. Considering the resources, tools, marketplaces, tutorials, payment processing, all the other All dev stuff they provide in general. Yes if your app goes big, they make a lot of money. But for every big app there's something like 9 that fail completely (…

Keep in mind that the price they charge doesn't really have anything to do with the actual infrastructure despite the costs. They're not selling infrastructure, they're selling access to an audience no different than really any other publisher.

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#22

Post by adorable »

CharlesW wrote: post #14

Is this any different than the same non-story we've been reading since 2011?[1] Don't want to give Apple their cut? Do what Amazon does, and don't sell through the App Store. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-kindle-2011-2

And so how do you sell iOS apps or in-app content then?

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#23

Post by jakelarkin »

If the app is a singular product that only exists on mobile, then fine you bake the Apple/Google tax into your price.

for content subscription businesses that are multi-platform its a bit of an absurd situation. You can't really charge 50% more on mobile platforms. Depending on where your user randomly decides to sign up your revenue and lifetime value of that user is suddenly 2/3rds of what it otherwise would be, despite costs being the same.

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#24

Post by Spivak »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #19
ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #10

Doesn't Valve take 30% from games on Steam? But they're complaining Apple taking 30% is too much? I also don't really think the Apple/Google fee is that unreasonable. Considering the resources, tools, marketplaces, tutorials, payment processing, all the other All dev stuff they provide in general. Yes if your app goes big, they make a lot of money. But for every big app there's something like 9 that fail completely (…

30% seems a lot when BlueSnap/Avangate/FastSpring provide most of the same services for 6-8%. Of course Apple would argue that they are connecting you to their customers. When there are a million apps in the store I'm not sure how true that is.

But Apple's customer base is more valuable, which is why people still publish there despite the cost. Apple and Google aren't selling infrastructure, they're selling an audience.

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#25

Post by [deleted] »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #10

Doesn't Valve take 30% from games on Steam? But they're complaining Apple taking 30% is too much? I also don't really think the Apple/Google fee is that unreasonable. Considering the resources, tools, marketplaces, tutorials, payment processing, all the other All dev stuff they provide in general. Yes if your app goes big, they make a lot of money. But for every big app there's something like 9 that fail completely (…

[deleted]

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#26

Post by pitaj »

javagram wrote: post #20
ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #10

Doesn't Valve take 30% from games on Steam? But they're complaining Apple taking 30% is too much? I also don't really think the Apple/Google fee is that unreasonable. Considering the resources, tools, marketplaces, tutorials, payment processing, all the other All dev stuff they provide in general. Yes if your app goes big, they make a lot of money. But for every big app there's something like 9 that fail completely (…

Valve takes 30% of direct sales through steam but allows developers to generate and sell separately steam keys where they get a 0% cut, as I understand it. For instance when you buy a game on humble bundle and get a steam key for it, valve makes nothing off that transaction. Unless Apple and google start allowing sales outside their stores I don’t think steam is comparable.

Google Play and the Apple App Store are completely different beasts. Unless you jailbreak your iOS device, there is no way to install apps outside the App Store. On Android, you can install entirely separate stores, like the Amazon one, and several OSS-focused stores.

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#27

Post by siruncledrew »

There's some full-circle irony in Apple and Google complaining about taxes being too high and using ways to avoid them, then they get served with the same tactics by companies in their ecosystems. Without passing judgement, it's just one of those classical examples of "what goes around comes around".

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#28

Post by mywittyname »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #10

Doesn't Valve take 30% from games on Steam? But they're complaining Apple taking 30% is too much? I also don't really think the Apple/Google fee is that unreasonable. Considering the resources, tools, marketplaces, tutorials, payment processing, all the other All dev stuff they provide in general. Yes if your app goes big, they make a lot of money. But for every big app there's something like 9 that fail completely (…

Valve has several big competitors in the PC market. Several hugely successful games are not available on Steam.

I'm not sure it's possible to create a hugely successful iPhone app that isn't on the App Store. Apple has a monopoly and is using it to squeeze excessive fees from developers.

Re: Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’

#30

Post by enitihas »

baybal2 wrote: post #15

Well, see once an app becomes more important than its platform, the platform has reasons to worry. Recent exodus from apple app store over in app purchases began with Tencent strongarming Apple to let them run their own in app payments under a threat of them quitting. It doesn't require one to be a brilliant thinker to ask "if Tencent was allowed to, why can't I?"

I think this point can't be emphasized enough. I read somewhere that Apple wouldn't want to go back to those days when some applications were more important than their platform, and when they were at the mercy of Adobe or Microsoft to continue providing software for the Mac. If an app becomes bigger than the platform, the platform loses it's strong lock in, and becomes dependent on the application. Like WeChat has become a platform in itself, and in China basically is the de facto platform a phone must support to be usable.
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