Apple proposes commissions of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases in the US — 9to5Mac

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Apple proposes commissions of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases in the US — 9to5Mac | AIPROPX

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Following several attempts to pause the District Court proceedings that will determine what fee, if any, Apple can charge for purchases made outside of the App Store’s IAP system, the company has now submitted its proffer with the proposed fee structure.

Apple’s submission came just as the Supreme Court denied the company’s request to pause the lower-court proceedings while it reviews whether Apple can be held in contempt for charging a 27% commission on off-App Store purchases, after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued an injunction requiring the company to let developers direct users to alternative purchasing methods.

Apple argued before the lower court and, later, before the Supreme Court, that the Court’s decision could affect the outcome of the fee-setting proceedings and that the proceedings should therefore be put on hold until the Court issues its decision. However, the Supreme Court denied Apple’s request, allowing the lower-court proceedings to continue while its review is underway.

As a result, Apple has now submitted its proposal, which calls for:

According to Apple, “fact and expert evidence with respect to these proposed commission rates are concurrently submitted”. The company adds:

“Based on expert analysis, it appears that large numbers of U.S. developers collectively accounting for the lion's share of App Store revenue will be able to link out profitably at the proffered rates, resulting in substantial competitive pressure on IAP, a goal this Court has repeatedly emphasized. And at these rates, Apple can recover at least some compensation for the value that its IP-protected tools, technologies, and services provide to developers, which the Court and the Ninth Circuit have also repeatedly acknowledged as legitimate and procompetitive.”

Apple added that its “proposed linked-out commission can also be compared to commissions for app stores that compete with the App Store,” including Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, and Amazon’s Android App Marketplace.

The company also noted that “the Google Play Store charges linked-out rates of a 20% “standard” rate, a 15% program rate, and a 10% subscription rate—and Epic agreed to those rates.“

Apple says that it still believes the rate-determination proceedings should be paused while its case is pending before the Supreme Court, and added that it submitted the proposal only to comply with Judge Gonzalez Rogers’s instructions.

The company also noted that the Ninth Circuit had reversed the District Court’s outright ban on commissions for linked-out purchases and said such commissions are problematic only if they are effectively prohibitive.

With the proffer now submitted, Epic will now have a chance to respond, while Apple is expected to file its brief in the Supreme Court by September 14.

You can read Apple’s full remand proffer below.

What do you think of Apple's proposed fees? Let us know in the comments.

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Marcus Mendes is a Brazilian tech podcaster and journalist who has been closely following Apple since the mid-2000s.

He began covering Apple news in Brazilian media in 2012 and later broadened his focus to the wider tech industry, hosting a daily podcast for seven years.