Katie Marsal
Apple last month again pared back the fees it charges third-parties and accessory makers who wish to manufacture official (MFi) electronic accessories, AirPlay audio accessories, and game controllers that connect to its iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
Though it's unclear by what measure the Cupertino-based company reduced the licensing fees, it's expected that that the reduction will — in time — translate to slightly more affordable accessories for the company's various iOS devices. The move could also potentially open the doors to new accessory makers who were previously hesitant to bring their inventions to market under the previous pay structure.
Apple charges the fees as part of its highly-successful MFi, or Made For iPod/iPhone/iPad, program that equips third party manufacturers with authorized hardware components, tools, documentation, technical support, and the ubiquitous Made for iPhone, Made for iPad, and Made for iPod certification logos seen on officially-sanctioned accessories hanging in Apple and other retail stores.
Originally conceived as "Made for iPod" back in January of 2005, the program initially charged steep fees rumored to have been in the realm of $10 per device, or 10% of the total retail cost of the accessory — whichever was greater.
Over time, Apple reportedly reduced the cost to between 1.5% and 8% of the total retail price of an item before ultimately settling on a flat $4 per connector fee, with a "Pass-through" connector commanding two of those $4 licensing fees.
At last year's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple extended the MFi program to cover a new breed of officially sanctioned iOS game controllers. A handful of these first-to-market game controllers have begun to surface over the past few months with hefty price tags. AppleInsider has reviewed several of them.
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20 Comments
$4 per connector sounds fair, but Apple seriously need to consider licensing female lightning-port connectors to, at the very least, iPhone case makers. This business of buying a battery case for your iPhone and being forced to used mini-USB is a joke. Get this sorted, Apple, please.
This is good, but from what I have read the high cost of the game controllers has less to do with the licensing fees and more to do with their certification process. They need to review and alter that before their gaming accessories are really going to take off.
$4 per connector sounds fair, but Apple seriously need to consider licensing female lightning-port connectors to, at the very least, iPhone case makers. This business of buying a battery case for your iPhone and being forced to used mini-USB is a joke. Get this sorted, Apple, please.
Do we know that Apple don't license female Lightning connectors? Maybe the accessory manufacturers are simply deciding not to pay the additional licensing fee.
The market has spoken %u2014 the fees are not reasonable. I used be able to buy extra iPhone 4 charging cables for about five dollars each, and they NEVER failed, no matter what brand I purchased. Today, with the silly authentication chip inside the iPhone cable, EVERY 3rd party cable I've tried has not worked, or only worked for a very short amount of time.
Regarding the comment about the female lightning connector ... isn't that what's meant by "pass-through" in the article? So a 3rd party wanting to make a lightning extension cable would need to pay $8. I battery pack unit would have to pay $8 as well ... $4 for the male and $4 for the female. Unless I've misread the article.