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Apple takes a 30% commission on any revenue passing through the store, and 15% on subscriptions. These fees are exorbitant - they are merely ringing a credit c

Apple takes a 30% commission on any revenue passing through the store, and 15% on subscriptions. These fees are exorbitant - they are merely ringing a credit card, transmitting a few megabytes of data, and performing a basic examination of the app itself. The oligopolistic position that they hold is their main point of value.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Not entirely true. Stores are also the first point of contact for support and warranty. I know Apple resellers nearby also offer (free) courses to get acquainted with apple devices and applications.
- ericcholis 8y ago
  beerlord is referring to the app store
  - TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
    Which still has terrible search. It’s nice that it’s a bit prettier than it used to be. But it still has terrible search. I wouldn’t mind the 30% if the store made it easy to find relevant apps. But it utterly fails at useful high quality discovery.
gehsty 8y ago
Its also ironic apple are suing Qualcom regarding licensing fees which are paid as a percentage of the hardware cost, as they believe that this means Qualcom profit from apples innovation unfairly, you could argue that Apples policy is the same with the App Store - why do they get a percentage? They add no extra value for high value transactions, surely a low fixed fee would be more aligned with apples values :)
- bunnycorn 8y ago
  Because most of the R&D that Qualcomm does (and as a fabless, IP is their real business) ends up on Android phones, while Apple pays the biggest slice. Therefore, they are getting their chips from Intel. Apple doesn't have anything to do with Qualcomm anymore, they get the package from Intel. Qualcomm can battle Intel in court if they want. Good luck for them...
  - gehsty 8y ago
    I guess I mean the principle that a percentage is taken - why should apple take more of a higher price transaction when there are no material differences in cost to them?
toasterlovin 8y ago
They control access to the customer. If you don’t think this is a valuable service, try selling stuff sometime. I sell on Amazon and they take 15% just for originating the sale, plus another 15% for FBA. If Amazon wasn’t around to charge me 30% to sell on their platform, I wouldn’t have a business.
zyang 8y ago
What about the cost of maintaining iOS and all the sdks.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

Not entirely true. Stores are also the first point of contact for support and warranty. I know Apple resellers nearby also offer (free) courses to get acquainted with apple devices and applications.

ericcholis 8y ago
beerlord is referring to the app store
- TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
  Which still has terrible search. It’s nice that it’s a bit prettier than it used to be. But it still has terrible search. I wouldn’t mind the 30% if the store made it easy to find relevant apps. But it utterly fails at useful high quality discovery.

gehsty 8y ago

Its also ironic apple are suing Qualcom regarding licensing fees which are paid as a percentage of the hardware cost, as they believe that this means Qualcom profit from apples innovation unfairly, you could argue that Apples policy is the same with the App Store - why do they get a percentage? They add no extra value for high value transactions, surely a low fixed fee would be more aligned with apples values :)

bunnycorn 8y ago
Because most of the R&D that Qualcomm does (and as a fabless, IP is their real business) ends up on Android phones, while Apple pays the biggest slice. Therefore, they are getting their chips from Intel. Apple doesn't have anything to do with Qualcomm anymore, they get the package from Intel. Qualcomm can battle Intel in court if they want. Good luck for them...
- gehsty 8y ago
  I guess I mean the principle that a percentage is taken - why should apple take more of a higher price transaction when there are no material differences in cost to them?

toasterlovin 8y ago

They control access to the customer. If you don’t think this is a valuable service, try selling stuff sometime. I sell on Amazon and they take 15% just for originating the sale, plus another 15% for FBA. If Amazon wasn’t around to charge me 30% to sell on their platform, I wouldn’t have a business.

zyang 8y ago

What about the cost of maintaining iOS and all the sdks.