Apple opens enrollment for its App Store Small Business Program with a reduced commission of 15%; deadline is Dec. 18 to qualify for a reduced rate on Jan. 1
which you have to tell them about. And any app transfer in or out of an account ends the program. Marco Arment / @marcoarment : App Store Small Business Program is accepting applications now. It's NOT automatic, so enroll now if you qualify! https://developer.apple.com/ ... Make sure to read the FAQ — there are a few gotchas and definitions worth noting: https://developer.apple.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Two weeks after Apple [[a:960208|announced it would cut its App Store commission to 15% for developers earning under $1M per year]], the mechanics are now live — and they are less automatic than the announcement implied. Developers must actively enroll by Dec. 18 to see the reduced rate on Jan. 1, and per the FAQ Marco Arment flagged, any app transfer in or out of an account ends program participation.
That fine print matters because this is Apple re-pricing its core platform take rate by segment rather than across the board — the first structural concession of its kind on the App Store, after earlier, narrower moves like slashing affiliate commissions on apps and IAPs from 7% to 2.5%.
First-order effects
- Qualifying developers who miss the Dec. 18 enrollment deadline stay at the standard 30% commission into January — the burden of switching is on them, not Apple.
- Developers planning acquisitions, spinouts, or portfolio reorganizations face a trap: moving apps between accounts strips the receiving or sending account of its 15% rate.
Second-order effects
- Small studios near the $1M line gain an incentive to keep each account's revenue under the threshold — splitting catalogs across developer accounts becomes a tax strategy, complicating how Apple counts 'all their apps' per business.
- Acquirers of small iOS studios inherit a commission reset on transferred apps, which changes deal math for exactly the sub-$1M companies the program targets.
Third-order effects
- Tiered, eligibility-gated take rates look set to become Apple's default pricing architecture: the company later applied the same 15% figure to mini apps via its Mini Apps Partner Program and to outside-link purchases through the revised US App Store link-out rules, where small business developers pay 12% versus 27%. Platform commissions are shifting from flat fees to negotiated-by-segment structures.
The trend: App Store economics are moving from a uniform 30% take rate toward segmented, eligibility-based commissions that Apple controls through enrollment terms and definitions.