News publishers group asks Apple to lower its App Store fees for them
Friday, August 21, 2020 at 10:36AM A publisher's group representing the likes of the New York Times, The Economist, the Washington Post, NPR, Conde Nast, etc. is hoping to cut down its 30% "Apple tax" to 15%. The request comes a week after Epic's legal battle with Apple began over this cut Apple (and Google) get from in-app purchases. But the trade organization Digital Content Next got the idea from Amazon. Documents released as part of a Congressional antitrust hearing in the US with CEOs from Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google-owner Alphabet revealed that Apple takes 15% from Amazon's App Store revenue for Prime Video instead of the standard 30%.
Digital Content Next's CEO Jason Kint wrote in an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking about the conditions its members need to meet to qualify for the same arrangement. Because right now, nearly a third of every newspaper subscription sold through an iOS device goes to Apple. Cook said during the hearing that this deal was open to any developer that meets the conditions.