United States v. Apple
ensure that Apple doesn’t lose revenues to others. Thus Apple has adopted a “give away the blades and sell the razor” strategy. That pricing strategy is unique among the industries we have considered.
David S. Evans • Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries
The odds are that Apple isn’t going to change anything; the App Store is extremely profitable, and Apple is probably going to win its court case. Why give up a single dime? At the same time, the constant wave of controversies have to be wearing on the company, from a morale perspective if nothing else. Apple can be legitimately accused of profiteer... See more
Ben Thompson • Rethinking the App Store
If Sweeney is correct, along with the growing number of people who believe that the Metaverse economy will one day be larger than the meatspace economy is today, letting Apple control the Metaverse App Store would essentially give it the ability to tax a large portion of the world’s wealthiest users 30%.
Packy McCormick • Minimally Extractive Meta
Fortnite, on the other hand, like most games, is selling purely virtual goods that have zero marginal cost; a costume or emote are bits in a database. Epic may be right that Apple’s 30% take is higher than it would be if the App Store had competition, but ultimately the cost of Fortnite’s V-Bucks is a completely arbitrary one (that is why, for exam... See more