14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft no longer has its very own mobile platform after the demise of Windows 10 Mobile, so in order to remain relevant in the mobile industry, the company has turned to a completely different approach that also involves making its apps available everywhere.
And everywhere means Microsoft’s apps are also offered to users on Android and iPhone, obviously published in the app stores operated by Google and Apple, respectively.
But as far as the latter is concerned, the high fees are something that Microsoft doesn’t necessarily agree with.
Microsoft president Brad Smith said at a Politico event that antitrust watchdogs in Europe and the United States should look into the matter, especially as agreeing with the fees is often the only way to be on that platform. While Smith doesn’t specifically say Apple should be investigated, he indicates that in some cases the fee to get an app in an app store is 30 percent.
Apple charges app developers up to 30 percent to have their apps published in the App Store, something that in the past has attracted criticism from several other large companies.
Large iOS app developer
“They impose requirements that increasingly say there is only one way to get on to our platform and that is to go through the gate that we ourselves have created,” Smith was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
“In some cases they create a very high price per toll - in some cases 30% of your revenue has to go to the toll keeper. The time has come - whether we are talking about D.C. or Brussels - for a much more focused conversation about the nature of app stores, the rules that are being put in place, the prices and the tolls that are being extracted and whether there is really a justification in antitrust law for everything that has been created.”
Microsoft is one of the largest iOS developers right now, as most of its apps are also available in the App Store. Apps like Outlook, Office, and SwiftKey are among the most popular on the platform, with hundreds of millions of downloads each.