Google, Apple will need to be ‘forcibly’ removed from app fee business, analyst says

Yahoo ^ | Sat, March 26, 2022, 9:25 AM | Alexandra Garfinkle

[Zhang Fei]

Google (GOOG, GOOGL) recently revealed a pilot program that will allow Spotify (SPOT) users to circumvent Google Play’s billing system.

Spotify is among the companies that have publicly fought against Google and Apple’s hold on their respective app stores. Apple takes a 30% commission on app and in-app purchases for larger developers, while Google Play takes either a 30% or 15% commission, depending on a variety of factors. This seems like a small but substantial turning point for critics, but it’s unlikely the move indicates that Google is ready to move on, Anurag Rana, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Software and IT Analyst, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above).

“This is a very high margin business for both Google and Apple,” he said. “They’re not going to give it [up] easily. You’ll have to take this out of their hands forcibly. So, I think they’re trying to appease regulators right now but I don’t think it’s going to go away that easy.”

In 2020, Google raked in $11.6 billion in in-app purchases globally, as previously reported by CNBC, which cited an estimate provided by analytics firm Sensor Tower. The Google-Spotify partnership itself, revenue-wise, is slated to possibly be a big win for Spotify and negligible to Google, Rana added.

“The question at hand is if, you know, the revenue contribution or the loss of revenue for Google is enough to make a dent,” he said. “... The real impact is for smaller companies, like the Spotifys, like Match (MTCH), so they’re the ones who benefit from this.”

Both developers and regulators have been chasing after app store fees for some time. Developers like Spotify have long railed against the commissions that Google and Apple take and that they’re forced to accept, while regulators fear that the companies' app store practices are anti-competitive.

[Zhang Fei]

Google and Apple get a guaranteed % of sales from any developer that writes software for their platforms. This is very different from Microsoft, which gets $0 from people who write Windows software. If a ban on these fees from tied sales materializes, Google and Apple stand to lose tens of billions of dollars a year in sales revenues that are almost pure profit.

[mylife]

the very word app makes me shudder

its a program.

[mylife]

mcdodo wants me to register and get an app to buy a mcmuffin...

[VeniVidiVici]

McDonalds is one of the better apps. I get free stuff all of the time. They have specials for breakfast or lunch (buy one get one free) every day.

As a truck driver there are very few places I can stop with a rig. I have a McD’s on my route so I know this :)

[cableguymn]

you can install apps from other sources on Android (like the amazon app store)

you can’t do this on apple.

that is how apple (and google for the most part) kill apps they don’t like like parler and what not.

once Trumps app gets popular enough, they will kill that one too.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I went to order food at the San Jose airport a couple days ago. You had to scan the QR code on the table to get a menu. Then, to order, you had to enter your name, email, and all of your credit card info! There was no way to do a conventional order and pay at the end. I said “screw this,” left the joint, and bought a chicken salad sandwich next door for cash. At least they didn’t want me to put App #163 on my phone. My gym got rid of their old, simple fingerprint reader for check-in and make you use an app!

[mylife]

insanity

[SamAdams76]

Once downloaded, you can’t even delete apps from your iPhone anymore. You can remove them from the Home Screen but they will always linger under the surface of i0S.

[GingisK]

Its a weaponized program.

[mylife]

do not want!

[GingisK]

Me either. I do not have social apps on my phone. I use is mostly like a flip phone with a screen, although the calculator and “notes” come in handy from time to time.

[Swordmaker]

Once downloaded, you can’t even delete apps from your iPhone anymore. You can remove them from the Home Screen but they will always linger under the surface of i0S.

This is false. A deleted App is deleted. It does not remain on your iPhone. Quit pushing lies.

[SamAdams76]

When I delete an app, it only says "removed from Home Screen".

Not looking to push lies but just reporting what I see. If the app is actually deleted from the phone as well, and not just the home screen, then I stand corrected.

[Swordmaker]

Democrats and competitors have been after Apple’s business model for quite a while, wanting to force Apple into a non-secure open market App Store (un-curated App) System where anyone can install non-secure apps on Apple devices from any source.

This is another attack article from Google (Android) on Apple’s secure (Google’s competitor) market, that is far more secure than Google’s Android system which is riddled with malware and requires anti-malware and anti-virus protection where Apple’s security and curated system does not. If they can force Apple into an Android like system, Google’s Android market position will be strengthened.

People who choose Apple do so for the security, not so they can buy insecure apps from anywhere. If they want that, there are plenty of alternative Android devices from other makers to choose. They did not choose them, they chose Apple devices, and often paid a premium price for that security. — APPLE PING!

APPLE FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, AND DOUBT ARTICLE
PING!

If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.

[SunkenCiv]

“Analyst”, heh. Thanks SM, good comments.

[Swordmaker]

Incidentally, the article is factually wrong about the percentages for many in App purchases, there is a sliding scale for such prices. Subscriptions can be as low as 10%, and some are as high has 30% due to the fact that some developers deliberately give their apps away free, then charge for full functionality only after the fact trying to avoid paying for use of the Apple App Store’s reasonable marketing of their goods and services.

Before Apple created the App Store, typical mark ups for software sales to get a software title to the end user were between 50% to 75% of the retail selling price. 30% is extremely reasonable where the publisher/programmer keeps 70% of his selling price. That was unheard of before Apple created it. So quit all the damn complaining about YOU keeping the lion’s share of getting your products to market! The company that facilitates you being able to do that IS entitled for a fair recompense for doing that for you. Would you rather go back to doing it the old way??? You keep 25% to 50%, if you are lucky, and paying for ALL advertising, packaging, and money handling yourself OUT of your end???

[Swordmaker]

Once downloaded, you can’t even delete apps from your iPhone anymore. You can remove them from the Home Screen but they will always linger under the surface of i0S.

Trust me Sam, deleted apps are gone and the space they occupied is available again… there is merely a flag that points to the fact you once DID indeed download this app… and links to the location of the App Store download to speed downloading it again if you choose to do so, or in case the deletion was accidental. Erase your cookies, and even that is gone. It’s that simple. They do the same thing in Android.

People get confused by the cloud symbol with the down arrow, thinking the app is still there, but it isn’t.

[Swordmaker]

When I delete an app, it only says "removed from Home Screen". Not looking to push lies but just reporting what I see. If the app is actually deleted from the phone as well, and not just the home screen, then I stand corrected.

The only apps that will do that are built in Apps from Apple. They are placed in a special App folder due to them being often intrinsic to the operation of other functions of the iPhone. Those are built into the operating system and cannot be deleted. All other apps, can be.

Sorry about being a bit brisk with you, I’m in a bit of pain. My back went out on me last night at my goddaughter’s wedding, and I’m still a bit not myself. My apologies. I’m usually not so bristly.

Since my lady died six months or so ago, it’s like someone has pinned a kick me sign on my back and nothing but bad luck has been my lot since. So. Again, my apologies.

[SamAdams76]

OK, thanks for the explanation.

[SamAdams76]

No worries. I always respected your passion for the Apple products and your knowledge of them. I own several Apple products myself and overall I’m very satisfied with them. I always like reading your Apple posts.

I’m so sorry to hear about your loss and your recent back troubles.