Apple Exec Suggested Cutting App Store Commission To 20% as Early as 2011

Phil Schiller, the Apple executive in charge of the App Store, raised the possibility of the company cutting its 30 percent commission rate to 25 or even 20 percent back in 2011 in response to competition. From a report: Schiller floated the idea in an email to then Apple CEO Steve Jobs and head of Apple services Eddy Cue. The email has been made public as part of the company's legal battle with Epic Games. "Do we think our 70/30 split will last forever?" Schiller's email begins. "I think someday we will see enough challenge from another platform or web based solutions to want to adjust our model." Schiller goes on to suggest that if Apple were to ever change its fee structure, that it should do so "from a position of strength rather than weakness" and floats the idea of Apple dropping its commission rate once the App Store is generating over $1 billion in annual profit. "I know that this is controversial, I just tee it up as another way to look at the size of the business, what we want to achieve, and how we stay competitive," Schiller wrote. "Just food for thought." Attached to the email is a Wall Street Journal article from 2011 which discussed the possibility of developers using web apps to bypass Apple's App Store fees.

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