Apple and Google have been under fire for their app store fees for quite some time now. The US, EU and UK are all investigating the possibility of Apple and Google violating several cartels, but South Korea is the first country to take action.
The country’s president Moon Jae-in and his party yesterday passed a bill that would free Korean developers from the App Store and Google Play Store fees as well as in-app transaction fees. They are usually 30%, but both companies lowered it to 15% for small developers. Still, mobile app revenue in 2020 brought in a total of $ 111 billion, and a good portion of that went directly to Apple and Google.
Of course, the two U.S. companies are not exactly happy with the new law. Apple says this poses a risk to the consumer as the law undermines privacy, payment security and handling purchases will be far more difficult while parental control issues can arise.
Google, on the other hand, cited lower unit costs and financial stability for both parties (themselves and the developers) as the reason for these fees.
