Good for them.
Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
31–40 of 398 posts
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#32It's ludicrous for Apple to state they somehow increased business for Netflix, because they allowed "sign-up" via iOS. That's like Google claiming they allowed sign-up via chrome, or AT&T claiming they allowed sign up via their Network. Apple adds ZERO value via the app store, both for devs and for the consumers.
Apple adds a lot of value via the App Store for initial app purchase/download.
I agree they add very minimal value for recurring subscriptions, and their fee should be dialled back to be inline with what card processors charge (because they're essentially offering payment processing and not much else).
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#33Why call it "tax" if it is a fee?
The article shows numbers based on a 30% fee when it explicitly says it is actually 15%.
"meaning Apple was making around $700,000 by doing nothing other than allowing Netflix to offer subscriptions in its app"
It seems a bit unfair also.
I have no horse in this race, but the author seems to have
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
My experience is that it is easy once you find the right screen. A Google search always leads me to the right screen. Apple could be better at making the location more transparent but they couldn’t make the act of canceling, once you get to the right location, easier.
Anything is easy once you know how to do it. :P
Not necessarily. Have you ever tried cancelling a cable or internet service over the phone?
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
You go to the App Store (logical place to look), tap your profile pic (a standard way of communicating "my account"), and tap your name in the menu. You'll arrive at the Account Settings page which has an obviously labeled Subscriptions button. Once there, subscriptions are neatly sorted into active and expired. Clicking on a subscription instantly shows you all options, you can change among them and get a full prora…
I don’t believe this is correct on iOS and it isn’t correct on the Apple TV. In iOS you need to go to Settings -> iTunes & App Store -> tap on your Apple ID at the top of the screen -> tap on view Apple ID -> scroll to subscriptions and tap on that It’s not obvious or intuitive in my opinion.
That's the same as going to iTunes Store -> Sroll Down to Apple ID -> Tap Apple ID -> View Apple ID -> Subscriptions on iOS... there is two ways to get to the same thing.
You can also like the parent poster said, use App Store -> Profile Picture -> Tap Apple ID -> Subscriptions.
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#36Was it a mistake for Apply to set the precedent that they will not take action against large tech firms that do this? Regardless of what is a 'fair' fee, what happens when the handful of apps that generate the vast majority of revenue move their transactions away from the marketplace? What is Apple/Google's next move?
Apple's next move is to compete by charging reasonable rates, instead of completely unreasonable ones. Netflix is a low chargeback risk, high volume customer and should expect to be paying 1.5-2% for an initial charge and even less for continued payments on the same card. Apple is charging 30% for the first year of payments and 15% after that. 30% is reasonable for an app from an unknown dev where the platform might…
What do you mean, “refund”? Is there a way to request a refund for an app you bought? AFAIK there’s no way to “trial” an app...
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#37It's ludicrous for Apple to state they somehow increased business for Netflix, because they allowed "sign-up" via iOS. That's like Google claiming they allowed sign-up via chrome, or AT&T claiming they allowed sign up via their Network. Apple adds ZERO value via the app store, both for devs and for the consumers.
What Apple adds is non-zero. As the parent comment points out, Apple offers discovery, billing, and distribution. The App Store is a single (theoretically trusted) place for iOS users to search for apps.
Let's not forget that, at least in theory, Apple curates the App Store. Neither Chrome nor AT&T does that in any substantial way.
Furthermore, Apple's business model is different from Google/Android's. Android can be a loss-leader as long as it draws users to revenue-generating Google services. Last I checked, iOS was one of Apple's primary sources of revenue. In principle (if not practice) Apple's model is based on offering a privacy and security-centric platform. For the privilege of accessing it, you pay developer subscription fees and give Apple a cut of the money you make through your app.
I think it's totally valid to argue what Apple offers is not worth the 15-30% cut. Either way, though, Apple is adding more than zero value.
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#38Why call it "tax" if it is a fee? The article shows numbers based on a 30% fee when it explicitly says it is actually 15%. "meaning Apple was making around $700,000 by doing nothing other than allowing Netflix to offer subscriptions in its app" It seems a bit unfair also. I have no horse in this race, but the author seems to have
I'd consider it a tax. You can't support billing in your app for digital services unless you're willing to pay that a percentage of your revenue. So the workaround is to push people to the safari app to enter in their credit card info.
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#39Why call it "tax" if it is a fee? The article shows numbers based on a 30% fee when it explicitly says it is actually 15%. "meaning Apple was making around $700,000 by doing nothing other than allowing Netflix to offer subscriptions in its app" It seems a bit unfair also. I have no horse in this race, but the author seems to have
I'd consider it a tax. You can't support billing in your app for digital services unless you're willing to pay that a percentage of your revenue. So the workaround is to push people to the safari app to enter in their credit card info.
Apple policies explicitly forbid this. While you can use subscriptions from on the website, the app cannot in any way suggest that you do that, nor can it link to a page that directly (one click away) lets you do it.
Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue
#40Why call it "tax" if it is a fee? The article shows numbers based on a 30% fee when it explicitly says it is actually 15%. "meaning Apple was making around $700,000 by doing nothing other than allowing Netflix to offer subscriptions in its app" It seems a bit unfair also. I have no horse in this race, but the author seems to have
It's just an informal term, used in the US (and likely elsewhere) to refers to a fee that is a regularly recurring % of a sale amount. The idea is that in this sense, the fee is similar to a sales tax.