| "but I'm equally certain that Apple's desire to keep people using their payment system is just as much about maintaining a great user experience for users" It's absolutely and fundamentally first about the platform-monopoly and control. Apple has a considerable number of other 'bad users experiences' to point at to suggest that this issue, while might be a part of their legit product strategy, is way second tier to their control of the distribution. Finally, there's also a fairly heavy 'bad user experience' in blocking from doing the things the want to do. The answer to your question is actually in the economics: Apple should be able to charge a premium to using their 'great experience' commensurate with the likelihood that vendors will use it, given that premium. With a 15%/30% cut, vendors will not use the service. With an 8% cut (assuming they'd have to pay Stripe 4% or whatever), then it may very well be worth it for vendors. i.e. if the 'Apple Checkout' were forced to compete as an actual produced (even with it's entrenched position in the platform), the profits would be a measure of the value at least on some level. |