Apple wants to end app commission policy that requires more in Korea • The Register

According to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, Apple said it will correct an oddity where local developers charge even more than the usual 30 percent Cupertino charges for selling software on its app store.

News of the change comes after the Commission (FTC) launched an antitrust investigation into Apple in September — in part for adding a 10 percent sales tax before charging commission fees in South Korea and South Korea only. The unusual billing policy resulted in Korean app developers paying a 33 percent commission rate, while their overseas counterparts paid just 30 percent.

The FTC spoke to Apple about the situation, and the iThing maker has promised to fix the problem, leaving South Korean developers paying just 30 percent.

“If Apple’s voluntary correction is done well in the future, I believe it will alleviate some of the difficulties faced by domestic app developers and help app market operators and app developers to communicate more actively in order to create a fairer and more vibrant app market Build ecosystem,” said FTC Chairman Han Ki-jung via machine translation from Korean.

Han’s comments came after visiting local developers as part of the FTC’s efforts to support a vibrant and innovative app market ecosystem and create a level playing field in the global technology-monopolized app market.

The FTC said it closely monitors cases of antitrust violations in the app market and plans to establish a dedicated online platform to handle such cases. The FTC gave no date when this platform would be initiated or completed other than “soon.”

Apple has been having a rough time in South Korea lately. In August, the country’s Communications Commission (KCC) said it was investigating Apple, among others, to find a workaround for Korea’s app store payment choice rule.

Previously, Apple has been slow to follow a law passed in September 2021 that requires Apple and Google to offer third-party payment options in their app stores. Apple argued for months that it was already compliant, then backed down in January 2022. ®