Apple Starts Accepting Developers Into Small Business Program

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Apple has started contacting eligible developers to inform them that they have been accepted into the Small Business Program, which allows developers to benefit from significantly reduced App Store fees.

small business program accepted

In November, Apple announced the Small Business Program, which sees ‌App Store‌ fees slashed to just 15 percent for developers earning under one million dollars per calendar year. Developers have been able to sign up to the Small Business Program since Thursday, December 3, and according to emails shared with MacRumors, Apple has now begun notifying developers if they have been accepted.

All developers who earned under one million dollars in 2020 are able to qualify for the program and the reduced 15 percent commission rate, and new developers who join in 2021 will also qualify. Going forward, developers who earn up to one million dollars in the prior calendar year will be able to participate. The ‌App Store‌ commission remains at 30 percent for developers making over one million dollars per year.

The program has since received praise from many developers, but some larger developers such as Spotify and Epic Games have criticized the move, saying it undermines the ‌App Store‌'s rules.

Apple says that the program will be available to the vast majority of developers, with those developers all receiving the same access to Apple's developer tools and programs. Apple expects the ‌‌App Store‌‌ Small Business Program to generate more digital commerce, support new jobs, and provide more funds for small businesses to invest back into their apps as they work to create innovative software for Apple users.

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Top Rated Comments

DanielDD Avatar
DanielDD
67 months ago
I personally think Apple should apply the 15% rate for the first million, and 30% for any revenue after that. That way there's no need to register nor a need to have an approval process. But this is a step in the right direction :)
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
subi257 Avatar
subi257
67 months ago

The fact that any "shop" can charge 30% is stupid. App Store, Steam, etc. Apple smelled that the EU legislation monster was waking up to do what the US government was unwilling or incapable of doing - keeping the markets fair.
Do you have any idea what it costs to run and maintain the backend infrastructure? storage servers (servers at that level have a 3-5 year life), The electric it takes to run said servers and the electric for the A/C to keep them cool? Running a business like that is not a retail store. I responsible for support of a video server system for video editing in a video production/post production and a chassis of 200TB gets EOL'd every 4-5 years....at $103k each and we have 4 of them. I can't even imagine how many EXEBYTES they have. We also use 'AWS S3 buckets' for some online editing capabilities and it cost 10's of thousands a year. I am told by some freelance engineers that I know who work in broadcast that the NFL has around 4 petabytes of storage and MLB has around 11 petabytes.

As far as "keeping the markets fair" not to sound like an ******* but, if run a business and it's mine, who is anybody to tell me what I can charge and be allowed to make. It's my business and if you don't like my prices go somewhere else. If I can't charge what I want, I could say screw it and shut it down.....just my thought as a business in a capitalist country, not saying it's right or not.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandon42 Avatar
Brandon42
67 months ago

The fact that any "shop" can charge 30% is stupid. App Store, Steam, etc. Apple smelled that the EU legislation monster was waking up to do what the US government was unwilling or incapable of doing - keeping the markets fair.
You’d hate to find out how little coffee farmers get paid for the coffee beans that make your coffee then.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
Apple Knowledge Navigator
67 months ago
Pity it took a lawsuit to make this happen
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KENPHOTO Avatar
KENPHOTO
67 months ago

The fact that any "shop" can charge 30% is stupid. App Store, Steam, etc. Apple smelled that the EU legislation monster was waking up to do what the US government was unwilling or incapable of doing - keeping the markets fair.
Lol, the mark up on software in brick and mortar stores meant developers got a lot less than 70%. No one seems to mention that Apple wears the costs of iTunes card sales as well. If you buy an iTunes card at 20% off, that 20% discount doesn’t come out of my 70%, it comes out of Apple’s.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandon42 Avatar
Brandon42
67 months ago

The fact the commission rate goes up the more successful you are is asinine.
It is not an uncommon practice. Think of it as a discount and then the normal rate begins. Many platforms offer a discounted starting tier. Microsoft and Amazon cloud computing are both good examples.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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