hriw-annon@xs4all.nl

gatorguy said:

rob53 said:

darkvader said:

dewme said:

Where this headed is that more and more apps will be free to download with a subscription managed totally out-of-band by the app developer. This is exactly how Microsoft Office 365 (and other subscription based apps) works today and it’s really not a big deal.

From a consumer perspective it just means that you’re having to deal with a separate payment system for all of these out-of-band subscriptions and you’re handing out your personal and financial information to many more people. In other words, consumers are taking on more complexity, inconvenience, and privacy/security risk so that App developers can skim a little more profit from you. Yes, they can be nice and pass along some of their savings to you, but they don’t have to. They can charge whatever they want and with addictive games the sky is the limit.

In the end, these out-of-band app subscription payment services aren’t screwing Apple nearly as much as they are screwing their customers. 

And all because Apple got far too greedy.  A 30% cut is absolutely insane.

Not that this is how I think the situation should be resolved.  Regulators need to end Apple's app store monopoly.  It's MY iPhone, not Apple's iPhone, and I should be able to install apps from any source of MY choosing.  Apple's app store monopoly needs to end.

Just shows how uneducated you are. Apple's costs to furnish and support its App Store infrastructure ia not cheap. Let's look at another market, the three biggest food delivery services, https://www.bikky.com/blog/biggest-food-delivery-services. ;

 That "uneducated' comment does you no favors.

Based on courtroom testimony in the Apple/Epic trial it IS relatively cheap to operate Apple's AppStore. As little as 22% of what Apple keeps as their cut from app sales is enough to pay for it.  The other 78% may be pure profit for them.

Translation: For a $5 purchase on the AppStore the developer typically gets $3.50. That leaves $1.50 for Apple. From that Apple uses  .33 cents to support the service, servers, and all other necessary infrastructure. That leaves Apple with $1.17 in pure profit from the $5 app sale for simply enabling the transaction. Every developer would love having that impressive a margin. 

darkvader said:

dewme said:

Where this headed is that more and more apps will be free to download with a subscription managed totally out-of-band by the app developer. This is exactly how Microsoft Office 365 (and other subscription based apps) works today and it’s really not a big deal.

From a consumer perspective it just means that you’re having to deal with a separate payment system for all of these out-of-band subscriptions and you’re handing out your personal and financial information to many more people. In other words, consumers are taking on more complexity, inconvenience, and privacy/security risk so that App developers can skim a little more profit from you. Yes, they can be nice and pass along some of their savings to you, but they don’t have to. They can charge whatever they want and with addictive games the sky is the limit.

In the end, these out-of-band app subscription payment services aren’t screwing Apple nearly as much as they are screwing their customers. 

And all because Apple got far too greedy.  A 30% cut is absolutely insane.

Not that this is how I think the situation should be resolved.  Regulators need to end Apple's app store monopoly.  It's MY iPhone, not Apple's iPhone, and I should be able to install apps from any source of MY choosing.  Apple's app store monopoly needs to end.

jayweiss said:

There will be no more FREE Apps. Someone is going to have to pay for the infrastructure that provides developers a storefront where their Apps can be discovered. 

There is no such thing as a free lunch. 

gatorguy said:

tundraboy said:

LexerArray said:

People are arguing for reasonable commissions for those use cases that resolves a big discrepancy in pricing that we are seeing today. 

I see big complaints about the 'unreasonable' 30%commission all the time and have never yet seen one credible argument about what is reasonable.  "I don't like it" or "that sounds large" is not a reasonable argument.  How much does Best Buy etc. tack onto the wholesale price when they self software?  How much do retailers in general tack on?  I know 30% is not uncommon, might even be on the low side.  People think the commission should be more like a finders fee where the finder does nothing except refer customers.  It's not as if Apple doesn't incur costs running and maintaining the App Store.

From the dollar you spend in the AppStore Apple keeps 30 cents.

According to expert testimony in the Epic case, from that 30 cent cut Apple spends 9 cents in supporting services and hardware to earn it. That leaves 21 cents as clear profit. That's a very healthy return, so no wonder Apple is so big on "Services".