Tinder parent company files antitrust lawsuit against Apple in India
Match Group, owner of popular dating app Tinder, is the latest company to file an antitrust case against Apple to protest the "excessive" 30% fee for publishing in the App Store.
Image by fabrikasimf
The newly-discovered case has been filed in India, making it the third such case based in the country, although Match is the first foreign entity to file against Apple there.
The filing claims that Apple customers in countries other than the U.S. prefer to use third-party payment systems, such as transfer systems backed by the government.
Match's head of global government relations Mark Buse, claims in the suit that Apple uses its dominant position on its own platforms to shut out competing payment systems.
Apple tried to prevent this investigation, saying its market share within India was "insignificant" at between 0% and 5% of the total market. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) ultimately issued a probe to investigate. That probe also inquired if Apple uses app data collected from potential competitors to improve its own services.
About 87% of apps in the Indian version of Apple's App Store pay no commissions, although Match argues that Tinder is one of the country's top dating apps. Data from Sensor Tower showed that 51% of consumer spending in the top five dating apps during Q2 2022 can be attributed to Tinder.
Match goes further, however, alleging that Apple views ride-sharing apps in India as physical goods and services, which lets them offer third-party payment systems according to App Review Guidelines. Match argues that these apps perform "a similar matchmaking function" to a dating app such as its own.
For developers who make less than one million per year from the App Store, their commission will decrease to 15% instead of the usual 30%.
The CCI will now investigate all three cases against Apple in India.
Read on AppleInsider
Image by fabrikasimf
The newly-discovered case has been filed in India, making it the third such case based in the country, although Match is the first foreign entity to file against Apple there.
The filing claims that Apple customers in countries other than the U.S. prefer to use third-party payment systems, such as transfer systems backed by the government.
Match's head of global government relations Mark Buse, claims in the suit that Apple uses its dominant position on its own platforms to shut out competing payment systems.
Apple's presence in India
Other similar lawsuits have been filed against Apple in India, accusing the company of similar behavior. In September 2021 a non-profit organization based in the country filed an antitrust case against the iPhone maker.Apple tried to prevent this investigation, saying its market share within India was "insignificant" at between 0% and 5% of the total market. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) ultimately issued a probe to investigate. That probe also inquired if Apple uses app data collected from potential competitors to improve its own services.
About 87% of apps in the Indian version of Apple's App Store pay no commissions, although Match argues that Tinder is one of the country's top dating apps. Data from Sensor Tower showed that 51% of consumer spending in the top five dating apps during Q2 2022 can be attributed to Tinder.
Match goes further, however, alleging that Apple views ride-sharing apps in India as physical goods and services, which lets them offer third-party payment systems according to App Review Guidelines. Match argues that these apps perform "a similar matchmaking function" to a dating app such as its own.
Apple and antitrust
Since the App Store payment saga started with Epic Games sued Apple in 2020 over payments in its game Fortnite, Apple has reduced the App Store commission fee under certain circumstances.For developers who make less than one million per year from the App Store, their commission will decrease to 15% instead of the usual 30%.
The CCI will now investigate all three cases against Apple in India.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Is Tinder asking for the chance to pay Apple for all the free services it provides in lieu of the 15% fee that it pays? Or are they just looking for a free handout?
Source: https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain
Another idiotic statement from one of the Three Stooges of CEO's (the other two being Sweeney of Epic and Ek of Spotify).
Apple do not collect a commission from the sale of the physical goods that the free ride-sharing apps provides. If the rider had to pay a membership fee to access ride-sharing services using an app, then Apple would collect a commission on that fee, if the membership fee was paid through the app. Just like how Apple would collect a commission on Amazon Prime membership fee if paid for using the app, but not on the physical goods that the Prime members purchase from Amazon using the app.
Tinder charges a subscription fee to members that wants access to the digital contact information of potential match ups. If the Tinder got paid for providing the "physical" contact of a potential match up, then the CEO of Match should be driving around in a Cadillac that can be classified as a "pimpmobile".
Option 1: App Store
Same as it is today with a $99/year fee, except there would be two "fee" models to choose from:
a) The current 15 or 30% cut model
b) No flat-rate cut, but you get a monthly itemized bill for your actual usage. So that's hosting, developer technical support, payment processing, customer service (people contacting Apple Support for issues with your app/billing/etc), etc.
Whichever you choose, you're locked in for a specific period (1-3 years maybe); no switching back and forth only when it's convenient for you.
Option 2: Side loading
Offer your app as a download outside of the App Store. Apple takes no cut but you are responsible for 100% of everything (hosting, billing, etc). Also you'd have to pay Apple a licensing fee to use their APIs/frameworks (like UIKit, ARKit, etc) or else write your own from scratch.
Can't do both at the time same.
These companies are given so much for free by Apple that now they think they're entitled to it. I'll bet it would cost a lot more than 30% of their revenue if they had to do everything themselves.