Background
Apple had been facing increasing scrutiny from antitrust regulators over the 30% commission it charged developers on app sales and in-app purchases.
The company made its first concession back in 2016, when it reduced its cut on in-app subscriptions to 15% in the second year. But the dramatic shift was in its so-called Small Business Program.
While billed as something aimed at small developers, the reality was that 98% of them would benefit. Apple was effectively switching to a 15% commission as standard, with a higher 30% one applying only to the very largest developers. Since the latter generate most of the money, it had a limited impact on Apple’s App Store income.
Google did the same, but gave everyone the 15% rate for the first $1M of revenue – unlike Apple’s all-or-nothing approach.
