Are Apple and Google being greedy? Both companies have kind of agreed to relax the rules on its app stores, such as allowing developers to link to external payment services, installing of third-party app stores, and so on. However, both companies are still taking a commission on apps that use out-of-app billing. So much so that a group in Japan is essentially protesting against Apple and Google over those payment rules.
Japanese group protests against Apple and Google’s payment rules
A coalition in Japan consisting of seven IT-related groups that represents more than 600 companies have issued a statement. This statement is directed at Apple and Google over their payment rules. According to these companies, the commissions are so big that using external sites for payment doesn’t make sense.
For those unfamiliar, back in December last year, Apple announced changes to its app distribution rules, payment options, and business terms. This was to comply with Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA). This basically allowed developers in Japan to link to off-app promos and offer alternative payment methods.
The idea, at least on paper, was to allow companies to avoid paying commissions to Apple and Google. You see, both Apple and Google take a cut from in-app purchases and app purchases. This can run up to 30%. That’s a huge chunk of change, especially if an app is raking in millions in sales.
By allowing outside payment methods, developers should be able to skirt around that. However, both Apple and Google continued taking commissions anyway, except at a lower rate of around 15-20%.
Not news to us
It’s not surprising that developers in Japan are taking issue with this. After all, going from 30% to 15-20% is exactly a huge jump. Presumably, Apple and Google might be hoping that the inconvenience of using a third-party service might force users and developers to use their payment services instead.
It’s also not the first time that Apple and Google have faced resistance to these practices. As part of Apple’s attempt to comply with the EU’s DMA, the company made so-called changes to its App Store. However, it was the bare minimum, leading developers to protest. The EU was not fooled by these changes either, and threatened Apple with periodic penalties until they complied fully.
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