Apple has commissioned a new study that explains its 30% cut in the App Store and compares it to rivals’ online markets like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Samsung. The goal of the study, conducted by Analysis Group, is to show that Apple’s cut is similar to what its rivals offer in its app stores and e-commerce markets.
The study comes just before Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared before an audience in Congress, along with CEOs of Amazon, Facebook and Google. However, the hearing was postponed due to a conflict with the late John Lewis memorial service.
Apple has been facing antitrust complaints over app store policies and a 30% commission on in-app sales and purchases. The complaints have been heard by the United States Department of Justice and by the European Union. Many developers and service providers claim that the cost is not justified. This study is Apple’s response to the claims.
The 48-page study compares Apple’s various stores for videos, podcasts, e-books, audiobooks, and apps with products like Epic, Steam, Amazon, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Play Store, and Microsoft Store. The results of the reports are summarized below:
Our study shows that the Apple App Store commission rate is similar in magnitude to the commission rates charged by many other app stores and digital content markets. Commission rates charged by digital markets most similar to the App Store, like other app stores and digital video game markets, are generally around 30%.
Markets that distribute digital content like videos, podcasts, e-books, and audiobooks generally charge commission rates of 30% or more. Commission rates charged by e-commerce markets vary by industry, but sometimes exceed 30%.
Currently, many vendors sell (or previously sold) their products through physical stores and markets. We find that sellers generally make a substantially smaller share of total distribution revenue through physical stores and markets than through digital markets like Apple’s App Store.
The study is an interesting read and offers some pretty detailed insights into how various e-commerce and digital markets currently work.
It is interesting to see that Microsoft, which had actually shared concerns with the United States’ antitrust committee against Apple’s App Store, charges the following for its own markets:
Microsoft Store:
- 30% in games
- 30% on all sales in commercial and educational stores
- 30% for Windows 8 devices
- 15% otherwise
Xbox:
- 30% (15% for non-video game subscriptions)
Microsoft also enforces the use of the company’s own payment gateways and APIs for in-app purchases and does not allow circumvention of these mechanisms.
- The Microsoft Application Developer Agreement states that “[n]Submission of new applications and in-app products to the Store is required to use the Microsoft commerce engine to support the purchase of any in-app Product (s) that may be consumed or used in [the] application “.
- Microsoft Store policies require that “[i]f your product includes in-product purchase, subscriptions, virtual currency, billing functionality, or capture financial information … You must use the Microsoft Store in-product purchase API to sell digital items or services that are consumed or used within your product. Your product may allow users to consume previously purchased digital content or services, but you should not direct users to a purchasing mechanism other than the Microsoft Store Product Purchase API. “
via CNBC
