Apple execs discussed taking a cut as high as 40 percent from third-party App Store subscriptions it has emerged. An email from Eddy Cue, revealed Wednesday as part of the House’s antitrust committee, suggested the fee for the first year. It ultimately ended up at 30 percent, although some companies got a half-price deal.
Apple ‘Leaving Money on The Table’
The email from Mr. Cue to fellow executives Jai Chulani, Jeff Robbin, and Josh Lippmann, dated March 17, 2011, said:
For recurring subscriptions, we should ask for 40% of the first year only but we need work a few deals to see what is right.
Later in the same message, Mr. Cue said:
I think we may be leaving money on the table if we just asked for about 30% of the first year of sub.
Third party’s pay a 30 percent cut to Apple for the first year. However, emails also indicated that Mr. Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos negotiated a special deal which allowed Amazon Prime Video a 15 percent rate (via Bloomberg News).