Recently, the issue of "apple tax" has once again attracted widespread attention.
According to a report by First Financial, some developers believe that China still applies the world's highest "Apple tax" rate, which is not friendly to Chinese application developers.
Based on the current 30% commission, after Apple takes away the 100 yuan gift income from China's live streaming industry, there will be 70 yuan left, which will be distributed to the anchors for 35 to 50 yuan. The remaining money will also cover streaming fees, manpower, and other expenses. A complete team of five people costs two to three hundred thousand yuan per month, and the remaining profit is not much
Another developer from a company stated that for more high-frequency apps in China, it is still not possible to introduce third-party app stores and payment processing systems. In regions such as the United States and the European Union, relevant rules have been modified, which is unfair to developers and consumers.
In fact, the controversy surrounding the "Apple Tax" has long existed both domestically and internationally.
The so-called 'Apple tax' refers to the commission that Apple charges 15% to 30% on the consumption of digital content for all apps on the App Store. When Apple users pay to download apps through the Apple App Store, purchase digital goods and services within the app, or give virtual currency rewards through the app, they need to first pay the money to the Apple Pay system, which is similar to a cash register. Then, Apple leaves a certain percentage of the fee for each transaction and transfers the remaining amount to the app developer. And this ratio is the tax rate of the apple tax.
The collection of "Apple tax" is reasonable to some extent, as Apple provides a secure and stable platform for application developers, ensuring that users can trust the quality and security of their applications. To maintain such a platform, Apple needs to invest a significant amount of resources and costs, so the 'Apple tax' can be seen as a compensation for these investments.
Meanwhile, as a software platform with unique design, features, and services, the App Store's "Apple Tax" is also a return on its intellectual property. In addition, the App Store provides developers with a vast market, enabling them to quickly push their apps to hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Given that Apple provides developers with such market exposure opportunities, it is reasonable to charge a certain fee for such promotion and sales activities.
However, the 'apple tax' has also sparked numerous controversies.
For small developers and some content providers, many people believe that a 30% split is too high. Although Apple later reduced the commission rate to 15% for small businesses with annual revenue less than $1 million, the 30% commission rate, which accounts for the majority, is still considered too high by many developers and companies.
Meanwhile, some developers believe that Apple's policies restrict their freedom to directly interact and sell to customers. For example, developers are unable to provide external payment links within their applications, which limits their business model choices. On antitrust issues, Apple's policies and 30% commission have sparked global antitrust investigations and lawsuits. Critics argue that Apple restricts the development of other payment and distribution channels through its dominant market position.
According to Sensor Tower, a third-party data statistics agency, the "Apple Tax" generated approximately 22.34 billion US dollars in global revenue in 2013, equivalent to 160.8 billion yuan, while in China, this figure exceeded 40 billion yuan.
Due to dissatisfaction with the "Apple Tax," some overseas market entities have filed lawsuits against Apple Inc.
For example, music streaming service provider Spotify and gaming company Epic Games have both had legal disputes with Apple. In addition, the European Union has imposed huge fines on Apple for its dominant position in the music streaming app market, forcing it to adjust its "Apple tax" in certain regions.
In 2019, foreign music streaming giant Spotify filed a lawsuit, alleging that Apple abused its market dominance to collect "Apple taxes" and violated the anti circumvention principle by not allowing apps to access external paid links within the platform.
In 2020, the game "Fortnite" developed by American gaming company Epic Games was taken down by Apple for bypassing the App Store and allowing players to pay directly in the game. Afterwards, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. Epic Games' approach has received support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has criticized the 30% tax rate on X more than once, even threatening that "if Apple takes down X, then he will choose to make a phone with this program embedded
In September 2021, Apple reached an agreement with the Japan Fair Trade Commission that allows audiovisual book and magazine apps to share website links, register and deliver within the app, without the need for in app purchases. In the same year, South Korea passed a revised Telecommunications Business Act, requiring Apple and Google to fully open third-party payments within their apps. Shortly thereafter, Apple lowered its commission rate to 26% in South Korea. The Dutch competition regulatory agency also stated in 2021 that Apple violated fair competition laws and required it to modify its app store payment policy by January 15, 2022.
On March 4th of this year, the European Union imposed a sky high fine of 1.84 billion euros on Apple for abusing its dominant position in the music streaming app distribution market.
The European Commission stated that Apple prohibits music streaming app developers from fully informing iOS users of alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app, and also prohibits them from providing any instructions on how to subscribe to such services.
The European Commission stated that in determining the amount of fines, consideration was given to the duration and severity of the infringement, as well as Apple's total revenue and market value. The conclusion is that fines exceeding 1.8 billion euros are proportional to Apple's global revenue and are necessary to achieve deterrence.
Later, Apple made a series of adjustments in the EU region, including a significant reduction in the "Apple Tax", from the original 30% and 15% (for small and medium-sized developers with an annual income of $1 million) for developers to 17% and 10%, respectively.
Following the footsteps of the European Union, Japan also plans to revise its antitrust laws and increase penalties for various anti competitive behaviors in the near future. South Korea plans to enact the strictest anti-monopoly law outside the European Union to limit the influence of large technology companies.
At present, Apple's tax rate for "standard enterprises" in China is 30%, while the tax rate for small enterprises is 15%. In the United States, for developers selling digital products through external links, the two data points are 27% and 12%, respectively. In the European region, if new business terms are added, the rates will be 17% and 10%, respectively. If developers use the App Store for fee processing, an additional 3% will be required. After the installation of iOS apps released through the App Store or other app markets exceeds 1 million times, an annual fee of 0.50 euros will be paid for each first installation. In the South Korean region, if developers use other payment methods within the app, the standard corporate tax rate will be reduced from 30% to 26%. From the perspective of the discounted tax rates, they are all lower than China's charging standards.