Apple Proposes Taking A 5-To-15 Percent Cut From External App Store Payments

Apple has asked the court to allow it to collect a fee of up to 15 percent for purchases made outside of its App Store payment system in the United States. This is still part of the long-running legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, which has been going on since 2020. 9to5Mac and MacRumors report that the company has submitted a proposal to the court with the commission it believes is reasonable to charge for payments made through external links and third-party services. 

The highest commission percentage in the proposal, which is 15 percent, will apply to apps that pay Apple a 30 percent cut for App Store payments. Apple is proposing a 10 percent cut from apps part of its News Partner Program, Video Partner Program and Mini Apps Partner Program, as well as from subscription renewals. Finally, Apple will take a 5 percent cut from apps part of its Small Business Program under the proposal. The “vast majority” of developers on the platform are qualified for the Small Business Program, and they have been paying Apple a 15 percent commission for purchases made through App Store’s billing system since 2020. 

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversees the antitrust lawsuit, ordered Apple to allow developers to link to external payment systems back in 2021 so they don’t have to pay the company a 30 percent commission for their sales. However, Apple still took a 12 to 27 percent cut from those transactions, prompting Epic Games to accuse it of non-compliance. 

Last year, the judge found Apple in contempt of court and ordered it to stop collecting fees from external payments altogether. While the appeals court upheld the ruling after Apple appealed it, the court also overturned Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ order that prohibited the company from collecting fees from external payments. Now, the judge has to determine what’s a fair commission for Apple to charge. 

Google has also been fighting the same court battle with Epic Games for years now. It finally opened the Play store to external billing on June 30 this year and lowered its commission to 10 percent, regardless of what payment system the customer uses. In July, it started allowing third-party app stores on the Android platform. According to The Verge, the two sides have just faced off again in court, with Epic arguing that Google makes it too complicated to install rival app stores. After showing the court that installing third-party app stores on Android takes several steps, the judge ordered Google to remove the “anticompetitive friction.”