Companies making more than $1 million a year will see no real change to their business, with the standard rate of 30 percent remaining in place. Apple makes the point, of course, that for that cut, companies are able to access various payment processing, security and hosting services for their apps. And Apple offers a number of APIs and developer tools that enable individuals and small businesses to build software for iOS and Mac devices.
Apple’s 30-percent commission has been an article of faith for Apple since the earliest days of the App Store. It says that the money raised goes into ensuring that apps are safe, reliable and secure, and says that only a handful of developers are making enough money to notice. That point is disputed with some developers, including Fortnite developer Epic Games, which declared a one-sided war on Apple in protest of the fees.
Several developers have joined in, saying that the uniform 30-percent cut is unfair, and that there may be antitrust implications should Apple persist. There has been a low-level risk through most of 2020 that the US may open an antitrust investigation into the company’s practices. By lowering the fees for small developers with lower profit margins, Apple may head off some of those concerns.
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Apple is cutting App Store fees in half for the majority of developers
