Japan turns up heat on Apple, Google with threat of hefty fines
(2024/04/15)
- Reference: 1713200413
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/15/japan_app_store_monopolies/
- Source link:
Apple, Google, and other Big Tech players could be fined 20 or even 30 percent of their sales in Japan if they break newly proposed regulations on abusive app store monopolies.
This level of punishment is just at the draft stage, according to [1]Nikkei , and if the proposed changes pass, today's current six percent fine for app store monopoly abuse will rise to 20 percent or more.
The legislation, which is being drafted by Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), is seemingly targeted at Apple and Google, which have come under fire globally for resisting calls to allow third-party app stores into their smartphone ecosystems.
[2]
While a six percent fine on Japanese sales may be manageable for tech titans like Apple and Google, 20 percent could do some serious damage, especially as these fines are based on revenue, not profit. Additionally, repeat offenders will be fined up to 30 percent, or five times the original six percent.
[3]
[4]
For reference, Apple generally takes a 30 percent cut from sales on its app store, equal to the repeat offender fine that Japan's FTC might impose. For developers that turn over less than $1 million a year, this Apple store fee drops to 15 percent.
Google is more flexible and only takes a [5]15 percent cut from three percent of devs on the Google Play store, though it increases the cut to 30 percent when devs see revenue in excess of $1 million. Should Japan follow through with these increased fines for monopoly violations, it could seriously impact Apple and Google's bottom lines.
[6]Apple's failure to duck UK antitrust probe could bring £785M windfall for devs
[7]Google sues app devs, claims they're Play Store crypto scammers with 100k+ victims
[8]The way Apple, Alphabet implemented DMA rules 'seems to be at odds' with law
[9]Uncle Sam, 15 US states launch antitrust war on Apple
In the US, the two giants are in a similar struggle over antitrust suits. Google already [10]settled one case that involved every single US state, plus Washington DC and two territories, to the tune of $700 million. For its part, [11]Apple is now being sued by 15 states and the Department of Justice, and the case was only filed last month.
Across the pond, Apple and Google have already capitulated to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which promises to dismantle the app monopolies both companies are accused of having. [12]Google already met the DMA's open app ecosystem requirements when they went into effect, but Apple made big changes that included [13]app distribution over the internet (which only costs devs half a euro per install after one million installs).
[14]
While it's unclear if a 20-30 percent fine for monopoly abuse will get Apple and Google to change their ways, it could at least bring Japan more of that sweet app store cash and help pay for a future antitrust suit if that's ever on the table. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-raise-fines-for-app-store-monopolies-to-20-of-sales
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/12/apple_competition_app_store_uk/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/google_sues_alleged_play_store/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/ec_antitrust_team_opens_dma/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/apple_antitrust_doj_battle/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/19/google_play_store_antitrust_settlement/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/apple_antitrust_doj_battle/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/06/google_dma_europe/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/apple_update_eu_devs_can_distribute_from_websites/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This level of punishment is just at the draft stage, according to [1]Nikkei , and if the proposed changes pass, today's current six percent fine for app store monopoly abuse will rise to 20 percent or more.
The legislation, which is being drafted by Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), is seemingly targeted at Apple and Google, which have come under fire globally for resisting calls to allow third-party app stores into their smartphone ecosystems.
[2]
While a six percent fine on Japanese sales may be manageable for tech titans like Apple and Google, 20 percent could do some serious damage, especially as these fines are based on revenue, not profit. Additionally, repeat offenders will be fined up to 30 percent, or five times the original six percent.
[3]
[4]
For reference, Apple generally takes a 30 percent cut from sales on its app store, equal to the repeat offender fine that Japan's FTC might impose. For developers that turn over less than $1 million a year, this Apple store fee drops to 15 percent.
Google is more flexible and only takes a [5]15 percent cut from three percent of devs on the Google Play store, though it increases the cut to 30 percent when devs see revenue in excess of $1 million. Should Japan follow through with these increased fines for monopoly violations, it could seriously impact Apple and Google's bottom lines.
[6]Apple's failure to duck UK antitrust probe could bring £785M windfall for devs
[7]Google sues app devs, claims they're Play Store crypto scammers with 100k+ victims
[8]The way Apple, Alphabet implemented DMA rules 'seems to be at odds' with law
[9]Uncle Sam, 15 US states launch antitrust war on Apple
In the US, the two giants are in a similar struggle over antitrust suits. Google already [10]settled one case that involved every single US state, plus Washington DC and two territories, to the tune of $700 million. For its part, [11]Apple is now being sued by 15 states and the Department of Justice, and the case was only filed last month.
Across the pond, Apple and Google have already capitulated to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which promises to dismantle the app monopolies both companies are accused of having. [12]Google already met the DMA's open app ecosystem requirements when they went into effect, but Apple made big changes that included [13]app distribution over the internet (which only costs devs half a euro per install after one million installs).
[14]
While it's unclear if a 20-30 percent fine for monopoly abuse will get Apple and Google to change their ways, it could at least bring Japan more of that sweet app store cash and help pay for a future antitrust suit if that's ever on the table. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-raise-fines-for-app-store-monopolies-to-20-of-sales
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/12/apple_competition_app_store_uk/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/google_sues_alleged_play_store/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/ec_antitrust_team_opens_dma/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/apple_antitrust_doj_battle/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/19/google_play_store_antitrust_settlement/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/apple_antitrust_doj_battle/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/06/google_dma_europe/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/apple_update_eu_devs_can_distribute_from_websites/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zh2jeq7PW82K8pazhEoZMgAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Alumoi
Ah, no worries. They'll just up their cut and make up the loss in no time.
Every freaking fine a company has to pay comes out of the clients pockets.
Dinanziame
This is why monopolies, or as the case may be duopolies, are bad. When they launched their app stores, nobody argued against the 30% commissions, because it was a smallish market. But the market has ballooned, and at some point they were making money hand over fist, and the 30% commission was becoming disproportionate. With a market functioning properly, rival app stores would have been created with smaller commission fees, and eventually they would have had to lower theirs as well to stay relevant. But since nobody could create another app store for the iPhone, and even for Android the starter advantage of the play store was overwhelming, they never had to do that. If anything, they have become more strict in grabbing a share of everything that was getting paid through their platforms.
So now, countries have to intervene to protect competitors, and the users who are ultimately paying for the fees.
Time to allow normal installation, Apple
This is getting stupid. Apple needs to wake up and understand that they can't get away with their app store monopoly any more.
All they have to do is allow normal software installation on iDevices like on any other computer. (I absolutely refuse to call it 'sideloading' because that sounds shady, it's normal installation.)