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The best outcome for everybody is that the maximum % commission of these stores is regulated, perhaps to a maximum of 10-15%. Do that and the need for alternat
by ArkanExplorer 5y ago
The best outcome for everybody is that the maximum % commission of these stores is regulated, perhaps to a maximum of 10-15%.
Do that and the need for alternate stores, alternate payments etc. goes away.
- bitcurious 5y agoIf I want an alternate store, it’s not to safe ~$20/year in commission, it’s to gain access to functionality to which Apple restricts access.
- mrkramer 5y agoApp is not necessity good, you can not impose price controls for apps like you can for food for example.
- fooey 5y agoBasically every other comparable store charges the exact same 30% rate Google, Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo The ones that don't just prove that charging a lower rate doesn't actually change the price the consumer pays in any way.
- ginko 5y agoThey should be forced to open up as well. The whole software platform business model needs to die.
- tompazourek 5y agoJust because you don't like it, it should be forced to die? You know there are people happy with the way it is...
- ArkanExplorer 5y agoGoogle charges 15% <$1million Steam charges 20-30% depending on how big you are, and probably has a sweatheart deal with EA. Xbox and Playstation offer subsidised hardware and arguably have a 0% rate given that so many titles are published in-house. Nintendo offers an effective 25% rate as 5% of spend is rebated to customers' wallets. Microsoft charges 12% Epic charges 12%
- ace2358 5y agoAre the different rates reflected in the prices on the store or does the customer pay the same price irrespective of the cut taken by the platform?
- ArkanExplorer 5y agoThe different rates are reflected in the burnout, low pay, bankruptcy and failure - or the opposite - of the developers who launch on them. Right now for example its basically impossible to make a reliable income just from PC, for the average solo developer or micro-studio, due to the insanely high 30% commission taken by Steam. Its necessary to launch cross-platform onto consoles, and optimizing the graphics and control schemes for these devices means that PC is not the focus.
- voisin 5y agoI think it is about more than commission. Developers argue the rules can be applied capriciously and that many of the rules are paternalistic.
- kergonath 5y agoYeah, that’s a much more legitimate issue than arguing about 15% vs 30% and where the line in the sand should be.
- ssivark 5y agoOn the contrary, I would argue the exact converse. There are many reasons to want alternative app stores, and they might even be an effective market mechanism to avoid specifying some naive threshold like 15%.
- ginko 5y agoThat still doesn't let me install (real) Firefox.
- comex 5y agoThen money would be less of an issue, but we'd still be stuck with all the same arbitrary restrictions as today, like no third party browsers, no porn, political censorship in China...
- kergonath 5y agoPolitical censorship in China is just part of doing business there. I would like Apple to follow the laws where I live (which they do imperfectly, and they need to be held accountable), so I am not going to complain because they follow local laws in other countries. In the other hand, their policy for apps with user-generated content is stupid, and their stance on adult content is pure ideology that belongs in the 19th century.
- kergonath 5y agoDo you really believe that setting profit margin for an industry is the government’s job? I am not libertarian, far from it, but this sounds excessive.