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Spotify is being dramatic but it's true Apple is taking advantage of its position on the AppStore. Apple not only has a 30% advantage over Spotify in terms of
by pier25 6y ago
Spotify is being dramatic but it's true Apple is taking advantage of its position on the AppStore.
Apple not only has a 30% advantage over Spotify in terms of final pricing, it can also use the 30% it gets from Spotify to lower its prices even further.
- zepto 6y agoOnly if you assume it costs nothing to develop and market the platform. Apple One is a boring and unattractive bundle of services. Spotify isn’t helping anyone here. And Spotify is benevolent to nobody but themselves - they are responsible for driving down artist royalties to line their own pockets. There are good arguments about software freedom to be made, buy Spotify and Epic aren’t making them.
- pier25 6y agoBoth Spotify and Apple will have development and marketing costs. I'm not arguing in favor of Spotify btw. I'm just saying if both services cost $10 per month on iOS, on the same number of users Apple will get $10 + $3 (from Spotify's %30) and Spotify will get $7. So Apple can actually sell it for $7 whereas Spotify can't. Obviously I'm over simplifying this.
- zepto 6y agoSure but Spotify’s development costs only have to cover the upper levels of the app whereas Apple is developing the system that both they and Spotify benefit from. That’s why it’s not a like for like comparison. Spotify can sell it for the same price as Apple, since they don’t have to fund the extra investments.
- pier25 6y agoiOS dev is already paid by selling the hardware. The AppStore is also profitable by itself.
- zepto 6y agoIs iOS dev paid for by the hardware? What makes you think that? It just sounds like something you made up. And what makes you think the App Store is profitable ‘by itself’? These statements seem to indicate that the argument against Apple is just about them making profit from what they do. That’s exactly the argument Epic and Spotify are making - they want to take some of the profit from what Apple does.
- pier25 6y agoAre you aware Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world? Where do you think these profits come from?
- zepto 6y agoSale of products and services, of course. It seems like the argument is that Apple is too profitable so it should be targeted. That stream of profits is certainly is what Epic and Spotify are trying to obtain through the courts. Apple on the other hand, obtained that stream of profits by investing decades of resources into developing their platforms. Platforms which Epic and Spotify have not had to develop, and which they have befitted from.