Amber Neely
Facebook hopes to promote "offline transactions," between creators and companies, allowing creators to sidestep Apple's 30% in-app purchase fee.
Apple's 30% fee on in-app purchases has always been a hot button issue, with many companies attempting to figure out ways to skirt the fee entirely. One notable case was Epic, who allowed customers to purchase items via credit card from within the Fortnite app. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in Fortnite being removed from the App Store, and spurred an ongoing legal battle.
Facebook, and its subsidiary, Instagram, now have plans to sidestep the fee, too, but without incurring the wrath of Apple's legal team.
"When there are digital transactions that happen on iOS, Apple insists that they take 30% of that." Adam Mosseri, Instagram's CEO told CNBC. "There's a very few number of exceptions. For transactions that happen in iOS, we're going to have to abide by their rules... but in general we're going to look for other ways to help creators make a living and facilitating transactions that happen in other places."
To avoid the 30% cut on digital goods, Instagram may push creators to connect with customers outside of the app, which would enable them to skirt Apple's commission fee and still do business. Facebook would likely create a framework for creators to use that could be mutually beneficial to both creators and Facebook itself, who would be able to charge its own commission fee.
CNBC notes that Facebook has yet to disclose what cut it would take from creators. However, the report does note that the cut would be less than 30%.
Facebook's framework would exist solely for those who create digital content, ranging from artwork to services. Sales of physical goods do not incur a 30% fee on Apple's platforms.
Facebook is known as one of several companies leading the charge against Apple. In May, it was discovered that the social media giant would consider adding new screens for both its main app and Instagram, to educate users that enabling tracking under Apple's App Tracking Transparency policy will "help keep" the apps free to use.
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Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
16 Comments
Facebook is just providing more confirmation that the issue isn't really about 30% being too high, but rather that other companies (like Facebook, like Epic) want to cut out a share of that commission revenue for themselves without having the added complication of developing phones/tablets and a mobile operating system as well.