Publishers, newspapers ask Apple to lower 30% fee for access to App Store

Trade organisation Digital Content Next, which represents publishers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and ViacomCBS, has asked Apple to reduce the 30 percent fee it charges to developers on its App Store. The fee means that nearly a third of every newspaper subscription sold through an iPhone or iPad app goes to Apple. Cnet first reported the news.

The move comes as documents released during an antitrust Congressional hearing in late July, showed Apple taking only 15 percent from Amazon’s App Store revenue for Pime Video. Digital Content Next asked Apple in a letter, penned by CEO Jason Kint, what it would take for members to also enjoy a similar 15 percent, instead of the standard 30 percent. 

The trade group said Apple’s “non-negotiable terms” have been an issue for some time," and that the high fees reduce earnings potential for app developers and drive up prices for consumers. “I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN's member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement," Kint said. 

Spotify said last year that the fee Apple charges to developers gives a competitive advantage to its own apps, such as Apple Music. Epic Games recently tried to circumvent the fee for its game Fortnite by offering direct billing. Apple has blocked the app, as has Google for similar reasons, prompting Epic to start a court case against both companies. 

Digital Content Next also represents the Times, the Post, Disney, the BBC, ESPN, Fox News, The Economist, New Yorker publisher Conde Nast, The Guardian and NPR, among others.