Apple in 2011 Considered Collecting a 40% Fee From Some Subscription Apps

Apple once considered taking a 40 percent cut from some subscription apps, according to documents shared today by the House Judiciary Committee (via Bloomberg).

appleappstorefeesemails
Back in March 2011, Apple's services boss Eddy Cue emailed three other executives and suggested Apple should "ask for 40% for the first year only," but that a "few deals" needed to be worked out for Apple to "see what is right."

One of the executives, Jai Chulani, wrote back that Apple could be "leaving money on the table" asking for 30 percent in the first year of subscriptions.

At the time, the emails referred to apps that offered digital content like Hulu on the Apple TV rather than apps running on iPhone and iPad, though Apple had launched App Store subscriptions in February 2011.

Apple ultimately decided to take a 30 percent cut from subscriptions purchased through the ‌App Store‌, and later reduced that rate for longer running subscriptions. Today, when customers sign up for a subscription within an app, Apple collects 30 percent for the first year, and 15 percent for the second year and all subsequent years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook during his testimony at today's antitrust subcommittee meeting emphasized that Apple has not changed its ‌App Store‌ fees since the ‌App Store‌ launched, and has in fact lowered them, referencing the 15 percent cut.

Ahead of the antitrust meeting, Apple also commissioned a study suggesting Apple's ‌App Store‌ fees are in line with the fees collected by other digital marketplaces and service providers.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

boss.king Avatar
64 months ago

30% is perfectly fair. 40% is not.
Can I ask you to explain how you came to that judgement? What makes 30 so much more acceptable than 40? Why not 25? Why not 60? Are you just drawing an arbitrary line in the sand because it's what we're used to, or is there some calculation you've run here?
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boss.king Avatar
64 months ago

because it's the industry standard that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft has adopted with their stores.
But it's the industry standard in part because that's where Apple set it. If they had originally been debating between 40% or 50%, would you be arguing that 40% is perfectly fair but not 50?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
64 months ago
Amazon takes up to 65 percent (yes, you read that right) from independent publishers of books sold through the Kindle store.

I'm not suggesting that by "only" taking 30 percent (or 40 percent) is by any means fair. But Amazon is getting away with highway robbery.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
64 months ago
Much ado about nothing, seeing how that did not come to fruition. Not sure why it is story worthy 9 years after the suggestion.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LN3000 Avatar
64 months ago
I don't see how this is really much of a story. One person suggesting something doesn't mean it reflects company values. I could suggest Mickey Mouse becoming president, but that doesn't mean all of America wants Mickey Mouse to be president (although....)
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
64 months ago
Greedy Apple SMH!!!!!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)