Our sources at NUPIAO have learned that on June 22, 48 small and medium-sized developers distributing iOS apps in China jointly submitted a whistleblower letter to the State Administration for Market Regulation. The letter, titled “Joint Developer Report on Apple’s Abuse of Market Dominance in China,” accuses Apple of restrictive trading, differential treatment, tying, and unfair pricing. They are demanding that Apple open up third-party app distribution, enable in-app third-party payments, and allow external link payment channels.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Chinese developers have raised their voices.
Way back in August 2017, a group of domestic developers, lawyers, and legal experts held a press conference, arguing that the App Store had long been involved in illegal, infringing, and monopolistic practices. They reported it to the country’s two antitrust enforcement agencies at the time.
This latest complaint was triggered by a major shift in Apple’s tax policy in Brazil. After years of investigation by the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE, Apple officially “cut taxes” in Brazil on June 19, while simultaneously opening up third-party downloads, external link payments, and lowering its in-app purchase commission rates. By now, three major overseas markets—the EU, Japan, and Brazil—have all adopted the model of “lower Apple in-app purchase rates + open third-party payment + open external link payment + open third-party app distribution,” giving developers and consumers more choices for payments and downloads.
In contrast, here in China, things look different. On March 13, Apple announced that, following communication with Chinese regulators, the commission rate for the App Store on iOS and iPadOS in mainland China would be adjusted, dropping from a maximum of 30% to 25%. Meanwhile, for small developers earning under 100 million a year and those eligible under the “Mini Program Partner Program,” the in-app purchase commission rate and the auto-renewable subscription rate after the first year will be further reduced from 15% to 12%. However, external link payments and third-party app distribution remain firmly locked down.
Ever since the App Store launched in 2008, Apple has enforced a unified global rule: it takes a 15% to 30% commission from developers’ in-app digital goods and services revenue. Specifically, for apps earning over 100 million a year, Apple takes a 30% cut on digital content purchases, while smaller developers pay a 15% commission. The remainder is what actually goes to the app developers—this is what we all commonly call the“Apple Tax”.
The disputes and lawsuits surrounding the “Apple Tax” have never really stopped over the years.It’s not just major players like Epic Games or Spotify; governments and regulators in the EU, the US, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, and many other countries and regions have gradually joined the fight against this“Apple Tax”.
In June 2025, Apple cited a joint study by Boston University and Analysis Group, claiming that the App Store facilitated 1.3 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2024. This mainly covers three segments: digital goods and services, physical goods and services, and in-app advertising, accounting for 10.11%, 78.3%, and 11.58% respectively. According to Apple’s commission rules, the platform generally only takes a cut from digital goods and services—that’s basically the 10% slice of the revenue pie mentioned above.
The report shows that over 90% of the revenue generated through the App Store requires no commission payment to Apple and belongs entirely to developers. Apple likely wants to use this to highlight the App Store’s contribution to developers and the global economy, hoping to ease the ongoing criticism and concern over the “Apple Tax.”
The data disclosed reveals that the annual developer billings and sales from the App Store skyrocketed from 514 billion in 2019 to 1.3 trillion in 2024. Looking at the regional breakdown, China was the top contributor in 2024 with 539 billion, followed by the US and Europe, which contributed 406 billion and 148 billion, respectively.
Meanwhile, Apple’s official “App Store Global Ecosystem Report” released at the end of 2025 shows that in 2024, China’s App Store digital goods and services transaction volume was roughly 23 billion, second only to the US at 53 billion and higher than Europe’s 20 billion.
A report published on Apple’s official website, authored by Ju Heng, an associate professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, states that from 2019 to 2023, the developer billings and sales facilitated by the Apple App Store ecosystem in China grew from 1.65 trillion RMB to 3.76 trillion RMB. Over 95% of that revenue went entirely to developers and businesses of all sizes, without paying a single cent in commission to Apple.
This report also highlights that in 2023, more than half of the Chinese developers who did pay a commission were on the 15% rate. At the same time, in-app advertising revenue is a key income stream for game developers (especially smaller ones), but the App Store doesn’t take a cut from this type of revenue. Therefore, the effective commission rate for large developers mostly falls below the 30% cap.
It’s also worth mentioning Apple has separate partnership arrangements with Tencent and ByteDance. In September 2025, the App Store announced support for Douyin Pay, which can be bound to an Apple ID for payments in the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Care+, and other scenarios. Then in November 2025, Apple announced the“Mini Program Partner Program”, slashing the commission on transactions from WeChat mini-games and similar programs from 30% to 15%.
Apple’s latest fiscal 2026 first-quarter earnings report shows that service revenue hit a historic peak of 30 billion, marking a 14% year-over-year increase. That service revenue includes iCloud storage and other subscriptions, paid apps, in-app advertising, and payments related to web search.
