Apple may be preparing new changes to the App Store, as the company looks for ways to boost revenue and improve profit margins in its services segment, according to a Bloomberg report in the latest edition of its "Power On" newsletter.
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The nature of the potential changes remains unclear, but the report indicates this push is being led primarily by Apple's new leadership under John Ternus, alongside Eddy Cue, the company's head of services.
The report also links these discussions to the recent departure of Phil Schiller, one of Apple's most prominent veteran executives.
After stepping down from his role as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Apple in 2020, Schiller became an Apple Fellow and took on responsibility for overseeing the App Store.
According to the report, Schiller opposed the proposed direction, believing such moves could increase frustration among developers and governments with the company's policies.
Options for Increasing App Store Revenue
There are currently no clear indications about exactly what changes Apple intends to implement, but the report lays out a number of possible scenarios that could help the company increase App Store profit margins or boost its recurring revenue from it.
Among the possibilities is changing the way Apple reviews apps before allowing them to be published.
The company could scale back or eliminate some manual review stages, which could lower costs. However, the report notes that relying more heavily on automated systems might not sit well with users, especially if it affects the efficiency of app reviews and the detection of issues within them.
Another option involves a possible increase in the developer membership fee, currently set at $99 annually.
The report also points to the possibility of Apple imposing a subscription fee on major developers based on usage volume, effectively shifting part of the infrastructure costs onto companies running apps with large user bases.
For developers, these possibilities could have effects greater than they might initially appear.
Higher costs or new fees could make running apps on Apple's platform more expensive, particularly for smaller developers.
At the same time, any future changes to the App Store's business model could affect how developers price subscriptions and services offered to users.
Awaiting Apple's Next Move
This direction, according to the report, reflects the significant financial importance of the App Store and the broader services segment to Apple.
But the company may find itself facing a delicate balancing act: increasing revenue without making its platform less attractive to developers, or drawing greater scrutiny from regulators.
For now, these plans remain unconfirmed, and the report did not specify a timeline for implementing any changes to the App Store.
Developers and users will need to wait for official details from Apple to find out whether the company genuinely intends to adjust developer fees, the app review system, or other aspects of the platform's operations.
In other words, there is currently no announced increase in App Store prices or formal change to its policies.
But should Apple decide to move forward with these plans, developers are likely to be the first to feel their impact before the effects reach ordinary users.
