Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store 'Tax' (bloomberg.com)

A backlash against the app stores of Apple and Google is gaining steam, with a growing number of companies saying the tech giants are collecting too high a tax for connecting consumers to developers' wares. From a report: Netflix and video game makers Epic Games and Valve are among companies that have recently tried to bypass the app stores or complained about the cost of the tolls Apple and Google charge. Grumbling about app store economics isn't new. But the number of complaints, combined with new ways of reaching users, regulatory scrutiny and competitive pressure are threatening to undermine what have become digital goldmines for Apple and Google. "It feels like something bubbling up here," said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie. "The dollars are just getting so big. They just don't want to be paying Apple and Google billions." Apple and Google launched their app stores in 2008, and they soon grew into powerful marketplaces that matched the creations of millions of independent developers with billions of smartphone users. In exchange, the companies take up to 30 percent of the money consumers pay developers.

Comments

Google is not a tax

[fred6666]

Since you don't have to use their store. Just like Epic did with their game.
Apple's, however, is a real tax.

Re:Google is not a tax

[dgatwood]

Go read the Sherman Antitrust Act again. See if you can find the word "monopoly" in it. Go ahead. I'll wait. (One of the two parts does contain "monopolize or attempt to monopolize", to be fair, but that is also not the part that would apply in this case, as it is predominantly concerned with mergers and conspiracy.)

Anticompetitive practices are more strictly regulated in monopoly situations, but nothing in any of the relevant laws precludes legal action against a company that is not a monopoly.