Hanging over Apple’s 2020 Worldwide Development Conference, which begins Monday, is the recent announcement by European regulators of an investigation that could fundamentally change the way Apple and developers make money from the App Store.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
In a statement, Apple said it “developed the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for entrepreneurs and developers. We’re deeply proud of the countless developers who’ve innovated and found success through our platform.” The company added that 84% of apps are free and don’t provide Apple a share of revenue.
Apple’s dealings with developers also are under scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers. In an interview Friday on Bloomberg Television, Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island and chairman of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, called the App Store policies “highway robbery” and said the company demands a “ransom” from developers, referring to the 30% revenue share. He said the chief executive officers of the major technology companies including Apple would be asked to testify before Congress. Thus far, Apple has declined to make CEO Tim Cook available.
MacDailyNews Take: Highway robbery? Please. Get a grip, Davey.
Cicilline is obviously prone to hysterics and has no idea what Apple and their App Store provides to developers, including a safe, secure, highly lucrative distribution method to the richest personal computer, smartphone, and tablet demographics ever assembled.
Apple built the Mac. Apple built the iPhone. Apple built the iPad. Apple built the App Store. Apple created the most verdant ecosystem ever created for developers by far. Only the losers and those developers who can’t read and follow simple rules are whining incessantly.
If anything, Apple takes too little of a cut for all that the App Store provides developers.
We look forward to Apple CEO Tim Cook (or whatever lower level executive Apple decides to send to this latest D.C. charade) schooling Cicilline & Co. publicly.