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"New York Times" and "Washington Post" want to pay less to Apple

2020-08-21T12:55:14.607Z


If you earn money in the App Store, you have to cede 30 percent of the income to Apple. However, this does not apply to Amazon. The online company only pays 15 percent. Now the US media are demanding the same terms.


Headquarters of the New York Times (archive image)

Photo: 

MARIO TAMA / AFP

Apple continues to come under pressure because of the fees developers have to pay to the App Store. After the Fortnite developer Epic Games and the social network Facebook, US media like the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" now also want to cede fewer fees for subscriptions and in-app purchases that are incurred when their readers and Readers make a payment in the iPhone and iPad apps of the media. 

In an open letter (PDF), the Digital Content Next (DCN) trade association calls on Apple CEO Tim Cook to lower the fees for app providers. The goal: The association wants the same conditions as Amazon, which only has to pay 15 percent of the fees instead of the usual 30 percent. 

The group from Cupertino negotiated this special rule with Amazon in 2016, which then only had to pay half of the Prime Video subscriptions taken out via the app store. According to the association, one would like to know which conditions the members would have to meet in order to qualify for a comparable agreement, it says in the letter. 

Correspondence made an agreement with Amazon public 

DCN accuses Apple of preferring the powerful corporations with its supposedly fair fee model. In a blog post, the association announced: "It has been shown that the apparently inviolable app store rules - which have long been suspected of favoring Apple's offers and apps - are apparently very flexible for those who have enough power Have negotiations. " 

The deal became known a few weeks ago when emails between Apple executive Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos were released at a hearing before the US Congress. It says that in return for the lower fees, Amazon released the Prime Video app on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. Amazon also added Apple devices to its range. 

Amazon did not want to comment on the special conditions at the request of SPIEGEL. Apple didn't respond to an email on Friday morning. 

Dispute over "Fortnite" app triggered the protest 

In the past few days, Apple has repeatedly made it clear that the 30 percent rule applies to everyone and that no exception is made for anyone. Experts are irritated that the group, with a market value of two trillion dollars, does not deviate from its position and accommodates the app developers in order to prevent further escalation. Because the revenue from the App Store only accounts for about a fifth of Apple's sales. Last year it was $ 54 billion, while total sales were $ 260 billion. 

Game developer Epic Games kicked off the wave of criticism last week. Epic had offered the players of the online shooter "Fortnite" cheaper conditions outside the app store via a back door. Apple interpreted this as a rule violation and threw the successful game app out of the offer, which among other things led to strange offers on eBay. 

After being kicked out of the App Store, Epic launched a long-planned campaign. The software manufacturer accuses Apple of abusing its market power as a monopoly and has filed a lawsuit. Apple, in turn, threatens the game company to block the developers' access if they do not adjust the "Fortnite" app in accordance with the rules by next Friday. Should Apple follow through on its threat, it could have consequences for games like "Pro Evolution Soccer" and "Mortal Kombat", which are programmed with the popular Unreal engine from Epic.

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Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2020-08-21

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