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by yourkin 2265 days ago
Amazon (likely after many years of negotiations) got itself a better deal than individual developers? This looks to me like complaining that corporations can aquire goods and services in bulk cheaper than would be for a single person to get in a generic supermarket. I'm all for equality, but this looks like a good precedent that might open more options eventually. What is the backlash here against?
2 comments
vorpalhex 2265 days ago
Apple isn't bulk buying oranges. They're forcing developers to pay a non-optional tax if they want to target iOS which in turn hurts the consumer.
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Grustaf 2265 days ago
It’s not a tax, it’s like a rent. They built and run the ecosystem, you don’t have to be part of it if you don’t like it, it’s completely voluntary, unlike a tax.
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jw14 2265 days ago
Rent is normally flat. I've never heard of a landlord taking a percentage
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Grustaf 2265 days ago
It’s rent in the sense of rent seeking. You control an asset and let others pay for using it, if they want to. Rent seeking is not a very good thing but it’s a minuscule part of Apple’s business model. I also can’t see how a small developer can find it unfair, 30% for access to the best mobile ecosystem seems a pretty good deal to me, and I’m a mobile developer. I can agree that it seems expensive to Amazon or Spotify though.
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sosborn 2265 days ago
It happens all the time with commercial leases.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/clb-percentage-rent....

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amelius 2265 days ago
Absurd, and:

> The percent that’s applied is usually an industry standard (7% on every dollar) and isn’t subject to much negotiation.

Which is still much less than the 30% of Apple.

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Grustaf 2265 days ago
It’s not about the size of the fee, it’s about what you charge for.
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enos_feedler 2265 days ago
I don't see it as tax or rent, but a business partnership with a revenue sharing model. Amazon has a unique deal, Google has a unique deal to bring search in Safari, Microsoft has a unique deal. Apple can't sign unique deals with all developers so this is a fair and scalable way to create business deals using APIs. It isn't perfect, but it works. If it didn't, it wouldn't be so successful.
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scarface74 2265 days ago
As opposed to the 70% that you were out of when you had to sell in physical stores.
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jariel 2265 days ago
"What is the backlash here against?" [1]

[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices

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