Snorple

CheeseFreeze said:

cessnapaul said:

"we love developers" as long as we get a 30% cut.

Just because Karl Benz invented the automobile doesn't mean he gets a cut of every toll road.

Saying Apple deserves a 30% cut of all digital goods because they built the platform is like saying a mall owner deserves a percentage of everything sold in every store, forever, even after the store builds its own loyal customer base and no longer relies on foot traffic.

Sure, Apple built the “mall” - the App Store - and they deserve fair rent for access and discovery. But when Apple blocks tenants from even telling customers that cheaper options exist outside the mall, or forces them to use Apple’s own checkout system, it stops being about fair business and becomes about control.

The real issue isn’t whether Apple should earn money - they already do, handsomely. It’s that they’ve positioned themselves as landlord, tax authority, and competitor all at once. Epic’s win doesn’t mean developers escape costs - it just means they can finally choose how to run their businesses. That’s not freeloading. That’s competition.

And let’s be honest: a free economy isn’t absolute. It needs guardrails. When two companies are the app economy, protecting free markets requires regulation - not just to stop abuse, but to keep the system open for the next generation of creators.

Hate to break it to you, but malls do charge stores for a percentage of their revenue.  Yes, it's more complicated than that, but it's a standard part of a retail lease.  If they run a business out of the mall store, then they typically pay a percent of the revenue generated out of that store (be it baked in as a fixed lease with a break point, or a flat out minimal fixed lease with a percentage of revenue on top).  The stores don't pay for sales outside of that mall store, and neither do the developers on Apple's ecosystem.  If developers have customers purchase items outside of the app, then they've bypassed the 15% or 30% fee and used their own payment system.  This is how Kindle and the major streaming services work (or worked).  

The bigger question Apple should be thinking about is not defending the current system they're using, but to recognize that it's a mature system and their monetization method should be rethought.  They are entitled to recouping their costs and generating a profit.  That's just business.