By Laurie Chen<\/p>\n
BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) – Apple<\/a> (AAPL<\/a>) said on Thursday it would lower the commission fees collected by the company from its App Store in mainland China in a huge win for Chinese developers following apparent pressure from regulators in the \u200cU.S. tech giant’s second-largest market.<\/p>\n Fees for in-app purchases and paid transactions will be lowered to 25% from 30% starting on Sunday, \u200cthe California-headquartered company said in a statement on its website. In-app purchase transactions for developers belonging to Apple’s small business and mini apps partner programmes will be cut to 12% \u200bfrom 15%.<\/p>\n “Mini apps” refer to smaller applications that operate within a larger application such as Tencent’s WeChat.<\/p>\n The move is a breakthrough for Chinese app developers and operators of “super apps” including Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance, whose platforms host many smaller apps created by third-party developers.<\/p>\n The cut is estimated to save Chinese developers more than 6 billion yuan ($873 million) in operating costs annually, the state-owned Economic Daily said in a Thursday report that framed the measure as \u200ca win for Chinese digital consumers.<\/p>\n “This adjustment will … improve \u2060consumption choices and information transparency,” the Economic Daily said.<\/p>\n “The premium for digital goods and services on the iOS side will be gradually eliminated, and the prices of membership subscriptions, game recharges, live broadcast tips, mini programs and other \u2060scenarios are expected to decrease, which is expected to save consumers up to nearly 1 billion yuan per year.”<\/p>\n WORLDWIDE SCRUTINY OF ‘APPLE TAX’<\/p>\n The 30% “Apple Tax” remains a major target of antitrust scrutiny by regulators worldwide. The EU introduced new legislation in 2024 that forced Apple to lower commission fees to 10% to 17% for \u200bdevelopers. \u200bIn the U.S., Apple allows users to pay in-app fees via alternative payment methods.<\/p>\n “In \u200bChina’s case, (Apple) have been talking with the IT ministry \u200cand other departments, and have been requested or pressured to reduce their fees,” said Rich Bishop, founder of AppInChina, a firm that advises foreign software developers on making their apps available in China.<\/p>\n The move comes into effect on World Consumer Rights Day on Sunday, a time when Chinese state media usually highlights domestic and foreign companies accused of consumer rights violations. Apple was targeted by the campaign in 2013, when its after-sales service was criticised by state broadcaster CCTV, forcing the company to publicly apologise.<\/p>\n In future, the Chinese government may request Apple to collect App Store revenues in \u200cChina instead of overseas, and further tighten regulatory oversight for foreign apps published in \u200bChina, Bishop said.<\/p>\n