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Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

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zridling:
The crazy just keeps on at Apple.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/apples-in-app-subscriptions-if-we-bring-in-subscribers-we-deserve-a-cut.ars

"Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing," CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.
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"And if you so much as eat an apple or say the word apple or think of apple, send us 30%!

zridling:
All this time I thought it was the app that brought in the customers, not the OS. How foolish of me.  ;)

If Amazon thought like Apple, they'd raid your bank account. "You know that investment book you bought from us and made $3000 on? Send us $900 immediately or we're deleting your account and banning you!"

Renegade:
"All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app."
--- End quote ---

Good grief...

I suppose it might help to have people fill in a long form so that they'd rather type on a computer than their phone...

zridling:
@Renegade
Exactly! So where does the 30% figure come from! Why not 50% or 70% or 95%? Would any Apple user protest if it were doubled tomorrow to 60%? Apple clarified later today: The rules are very straightforward: Publishers can continue to sell digital subscriptions on their own websites and give free access to existing subscribers. Apple will not take a cut from these transactions. Publishers who offer out-of-app subscriptions, though, also have to offer in-app subscriptions and the price has to be the same or lower than for subscriptions processed outside of the app. Apple will take a 30% cut from these in-app transactions. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/02/15appstore.html

And what if 30% never existed in history in some businesses? Apparently this means Amazon is going to have to pull its link to the Kindle Store that it currently provides in its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps. Yea, they're sure making it easier and simpler all right. Question for Steve Jobs: How much is enough?

Renegade:
30% is a pretty standard affiliate commission. Some go higher. At CJ you can give out up to 75%.

But Apple brings ZERO value to the table as a retailer. They don't *earn* that 30%.  It's up to YOU to go out and get your customers. With 200,000 software titles in the Apple App Store (not "on" the app store because I speak English properly... but that's another rant), you are nothing but the long tail. And they want 30% to throw you in the long tail? Huh? YOU are still responsible to go out and spend the money, time, and effort to get the customers. And THEN they want a 30% cut from YOUR work AGAIN?

If Apple did jack to actually earn that 30%, it would be different. But it's not.

The whole thing boils down to YOU putting in all the work and they collect for doing nothing.

Now, if you have preferential placement in the store, like the first page or the top few in a category, well, I can see paying for that. But to be #4,832 of 12,356? That's just bullshit. And that's the bullshit piled on top of all their other bullshit, but as above, that... is another rant...

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