The Zhitong Finance App learned that Apple (AAPL.US) has agreed to implement a series of major adjustments to the European App Store, including abolishing the charge per number of installs for developers not using the official iPhone app market, in order to resolve differences with the EU over competition issues.
Apple said in a statement released on Tuesday that it will replace the original “core technology fee” with a new fee model — a fee that was originally levied on EU developers that bypass the App Store. Under the new model, Apple will extract a 5% commission on digital transactions generated by apps distributed outside of its platform.
This adjustment is seen as a major concession made by Apple to EU regulators. Over a long period of time, the two sides have been playing an enduring game over Apple's highly controlled App Store. Over the years, app developers have complained that Apple and Google (GOOGL.US) have absolute dominance over the smartphone ecosystem, not only charging high fees, but also firmly controlling payment systems within their respective platforms.
The European Commission, as the executive body of the European Union, has always been committed to portraying its image as the “supervisory police” of the world's largest technology companies, and conflicts with Apple have continued in the process. In July of this year, the second-largest company by market capitalization in the world tried to overturn restrictions imposed on it by the European Union under the Digital Markets Law, but was thwarted in court.
Apple said in a statement: “These adjustments resolve differences between Apple and the European Commission on commercial terms and alternative distribution methods. At the same time, the new regulations uniformly include all developers of applications distributed in the EU into the same set of commercial terms, thereby reducing operational complexity.”
Apple also promised to expand the number of European companies that are eligible to distribute and commercialize iPhone apps in Europe. The new pricing and policies will officially take effect on October 1.
A European Commission spokesperson said in an email statement that the Commission “is happy to see Apple adjust its commercial terms after close dialogue with us,” adding, “Following today's announcement, the Commission will monitor Apple's effective implementation of the new terms.”
In 2025, the European Union fined Apple 500 million euros (about 579 million US dollars) for violating the Digital Market Law. The reason was that Apple did not allow developers to provide links within its App Store to guide users to external channels to complete transactions.
This comprehensive reform of the App Store is a response to another investigation launched by the European Union in 2024. The survey aims to examine whether the adjustments made by Apple to comply with the Digital Markets Act actually meet the requirements of EU rules.
According to the new policy, Apple's commission on in-app purchases in Europe will be reduced from 30% of the standard rate to 26%. Developers who join Apple's various partner programs, or apps that provide automatic renewal subscription services, are charged at a rate of 15%.
At the same time, Apple will also allow developers to provide other payment methods for users to choose from in addition to Apple's own payment tools.
Additionally, Apple will introduce new child protection measures, including the requirement for users under 18 to obtain parental consent when using any alternative payment channel or redirecting to a website to complete a transaction.
The so-called third-party app marketplace refers to an application distribution platform that is independent of the Apple device's built-in App Store. According to the Digital Market Law, which came into full effect more than two years ago, Apple was forced to allow such third-party application markets to exist in the European Union region.
Previously, Apple was accused of artificially setting up barriers in the EU region, making it difficult for developers and consumers to distribute and obtain apps outside of the App Store, leading to numerous investigations and fines. Apple is strongly driven by economic interests in this regard, because its official App Store is much more profitable than external distribution and payment methods.
Despite this, several well-known third-party app stores for Apple devices have now appeared in the EU, including those supported by Epic Games, the developer of the popular game “Fortnite”.