Apple has shared a study commissioned from Analysis Group [PDF] that looks at App Store pricing changes before and after reduced fees took effect in the European Union(EU) in March 2024 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The report shows that the DMA hasn’t resulted in lower prices for consumers. In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that the DMA has reduced privacy and security without the outcomes that EU lawmakers expected.
From the report: The DMA has failed to live up to its promises, delivering less security, less privacy, and a worse experience for consumers across Europe. This study provides further evidence that the DMA is not benefiting consumers in the form of lower prices. At the same time, we know the regulation is creating new barriers for innovators and startups while exposing consumers to new risks.
Here are key takeaways from the study:
° In March 2024, Apple introduced alternative business terms in the EU in response to the Digital
Markets Act (DMA). Developers who enrolled in those terms pay lower fees on the sales of their apps, digital goods, services, and subscriptions through the App Store to EU users.
° Despite commission rates typically falling by about 10 percentage points, current evidence shows that developers kept the prices of what they sold through the App Store the same or increased them more than 90% of the time. This is true regardless of whether developers paid a Core
Technology Fee to Apple.
° Even when developers decreased prices after enrollment—which only happened for approximately 9% of prices in EU storefronts—they did so in a way consistent with usual patterns in price changes. This suggests that the bulk of the observed price decreases are unrelated to the reduction in fees from the alternative business terms.
° Developers’ decision not to pass on commission savings to EU users mirrors Apple’s past experiences following the launch of multiple initiatives that reduced commission rates. For example,
when Apple reduced commission rates for tens of thousands of small developers under the Small Business Program, developers decreased only a small minority of prices in the US storefront.
° In addition to developers keeping most of the commission savings for themselves, the overwhelming majority of those savings—more than 86%—went to developers outside the EU.
# Conclusion: This study therefore demonstrates that commission savings as a result of the DMA have not led to price decreases for customers and overwhelmingly flowed to developers outside the EU.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
