[ad_1]
Apple has announced that it will cut the cut required from each in-app purchase in half for developers making up to $ 1 million (A $ 1.37 million) per year, as the company faces new demand from developers. Fortnite creators by practice. .
Currently, Apple charges a 30% commission for paid applications and for sales made within applications that run on iOS on iPhones and iPads.
On the day that Epic Games announced that it was challenging Apple in Australian federal court for the removal of the popular online video game Fortnite for trying to circumvent this payment system, Apple announced that smaller developers would only have to pay 15% instead of the 30% of January 1 of next year.
Existing developers who made up to $ 1 million for all their apps in 2020 will automatically get the cutoff rate. Those who made more than $ 1 million the previous year, but then drop below the threshold in a later calendar year, will qualify for the following year.
If a developer exceeds the threshold in one year, the 30% charge will apply for the remainder of the year after it is exceeded.
Apple did not say how much revenue it would give up as part of the change, but said that of the 1.8 million apps in the App Store where Apple charges a commission, the majority would qualify for the discount. Apple said that in 2019 transactions via apps on iOS were worth $ 519 billion (A $ 710 billion), with 85% of that going to third-party developers and companies.
The new discount would not apply to Epic Games, which is forecast to make $ 5 billion in 2020 in total, not just through Apple’s app store.
On Wednesday, Epic Games announced legal action in Australia over the fees charged by Apple for in-app purchases. In the court filing, Epic Games said that Apple was misusing its market power by preventing rival payment systems from being built, meaning it was hurting Epic’s profits and driving higher prices for Apple users. .
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Apple was stifling competition by limiting in-app purchases.
“This is much bigger than Epic versus Apple – it goes to the heart of whether consumers and creators can do business together directly on mobile platforms or if they are forced to use monopoly channels against their wishes and interests,” he said.
In a statement, an Apple spokeswoman pointed to comments by a US judge on a ruling against Epic seeking a preliminary injunction in October, describing Epic’s failure to pay as “misleading and clandestine.” The spokeswoman said Epic’s actions were expressly about violating App Store guidelines designed to protect customers.
“Their reckless behavior turned clients into pawns, and we hope to make this clear to the Australian courts,” he said.
In June, the European Commission announced an antitrust investigation into whether Apple’s app store violated EU competition rules, following a complaint from music app Spotify and an e-book distributor.
Australia’s competition watchdog also announced an investigation into the market power of app stores run by Apple and Google.
Apple denied that the ad tried to prevent possible changes to the app store regulation.
