App developers call for EU action on Apple’s App Store fees

A coalition of 20 app developers and consumer groups urged European regulators on Tuesday to strictly enforce EU laws against Apple, arguing that the company’s App Store fee structure continues to put European developers at a competitive disadvantage relative to their U.S. counterparts following a recent U.S. court ruling in the Epic Games antitrust case.
The group, part of the Coalition for Apps Fairness (including companies like Deezer and Proton), contends that Apple’s compliance measures with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — which include fees of 13-20% on App Store purchases and additional 5-15% penalties on external transactions — still violate the law’s requirements for fee-free alternative payment options. They highlight that U.S. developers now face fewer restrictions on external payments due to the December 2025 appeals court decision, exacerbating the disparity for European firms.
Leo Marchandon for Reuters:
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“This situation is untenable and damaging to the app economy,” CAF said in a statement, accusing Apple of undermining transparency and stifling innovation.
Global Policy Counsel for CAF, Gene Burrus, said that developers in the EU have to either bear the cost of those fees or pass them down to customers. “It is bad for European companies, and it is bad for European consumers,” he said.
Although Apple has announced further policy changes to take effect in January, it has yet to specify what these revisions will entail, fuelling dissatisfaction among developers over the lack of clarity.
“We want the EU Commission to tell Apple that the law is the law and that free of charge means free of charge,” Burrus said, adding that the European authorities should consider referring the issue to the European Court of Justice if necessary.

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MacDailyNews Take: Why should Apple provide anything “free of charge?” The App Store costs money to run. It’s not a public utility, it’s a business.
The vast majority of developers who pay Apple an App Store commission, pay 15%. That amounts to 12 cents of “inflated prices” for non-free apps on average. So, if you bought 50 apps for your iPhone, it would cost you, on the average, a total of $40. Halving Apple’s commission would reduce that price to $37. Removing Apple’s commission entirely would reduce that price to $34.
Here you see the absolute horror of “inflated prices” caused by Apple trying to cover costs to run their App Store for 1.4+ billion iOS/iPadOS users. A total of $3-$6 per every 50 apps, on average. How can any app consumer survive such abject gouging?!!!
How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Does Apple not have costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to 1+ billion users? – MacDailyNews, July 30, 2021
Ultimately, the end user pays, regardless.
Either Apple continues to take App Store commissions to pay for their infrastructure costs or they increase hardware and/or subscription prices to pay for the government interference.

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