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Your cafe charging $3-4 for coffee doesn't have to pay 30% to Apple. They'd have to charge $4.28 - $5.71 to make the same as before - actually more, since dema

Your cafe charging $3-4 for coffee doesn't have to pay 30% to Apple. They'd have to charge $4.28 - $5.71 to make the same as before - actually more, since demand would also be reduced due to the higher price. Its likely that the cafe business would be basically completely uneconomic... we cannot anticipate the kind of ecosystem we could have if the platforms charged based on the service that they provide (which would be a few % points, with credit card fees as the main cost) instead of extracting monopoly rents.

chongli 5y ago
Your cafe charging $3-4 for coffee doesn't have to pay 30% to Apple. No, but they do have to pay their landlord. In all likelihood, they pay even more than 30% to their landlord, especially when sales slow down. I can't tell you how many restaurants and cafes have closed during the pandemic.
- ArkanExplorer 5y ago
  Businesses buy and rent land on an open market, with pricing based on supply and demand, and the opportunity to move if they feel they are not getting a good deal. No such ability exists on iOS. Software developers have to pay rent too. And salaries, and for hardware, and finally for a giant 30% commission to Apple.. You are operating on the basis that a 30% commission from a platform owner is an established fact of the Universe, whereas I am suggesting it is merely an artificial cost tacked on to extract exorbitant rents and for no purpose other than to enrich an owner who faces zero competition.
  - chongli 5y ago
    I think one way to look at Apple's iOS App Store is like a mall. Storefront property in a mall must be leased from the mall, it's not available on the open market. Shop owners pay a lot for access to the large amount of foot traffic the mall provides. Developers are free to take their business elsewhere, such as to Android or PCs, or even to some open source phones. Apple just happens to own the "mall" with the lion's share of the foot traffic and the wealthiest customers.
Doctor_Fegg 5y ago
Former director of a coffee shop here. If we could limit our rent, business rates, etc. etc. to 30% (or indeed 15% as per the new small business rate) we’d have been very happy.

chongli 5y ago

Your cafe charging $3-4 for coffee doesn't have to pay 30% to Apple. No, but they do have to pay their landlord. In all likelihood, they pay even more than 30% to their landlord, especially when sales slow down. I can't tell you how many restaurants and cafes have closed during the pandemic.

ArkanExplorer 5y ago
Businesses buy and rent land on an open market, with pricing based on supply and demand, and the opportunity to move if they feel they are not getting a good deal. No such ability exists on iOS. Software developers have to pay rent too. And salaries, and for hardware, and finally for a giant 30% commission to Apple.. You are operating on the basis that a 30% commission from a platform owner is an established fact of the Universe, whereas I am suggesting it is merely an artificial cost tacked on to extract exorbitant rents and for no purpose other than to enrich an owner who faces zero competition.
- chongli 5y ago
  I think one way to look at Apple's iOS App Store is like a mall. Storefront property in a mall must be leased from the mall, it's not available on the open market. Shop owners pay a lot for access to the large amount of foot traffic the mall provides. Developers are free to take their business elsewhere, such as to Android or PCs, or even to some open source phones. Apple just happens to own the "mall" with the lion's share of the foot traffic and the wealthiest customers.

Doctor_Fegg 5y ago

Former director of a coffee shop here. If we could limit our rent, business rates, etc. etc. to 30% (or indeed 15% as per the new small business rate) we’d have been very happy.