Apple Bows To Chinese Regulatory Pressure With App Store Fee Cut: These Firms Could Be The Big Winners

Apple’s move follows pressure from Tencent and TikTok owner Bytedance, which had prompted a review of Apple’s App Store practices by local regulators.

• Apple would reduce its App Store cut in China to 25% from 30% from Mar. 15.
• Apple previously made similar reductions in the European Union under a new bloc-wide law.
• U.S. shares of NetEase rose in Friday’s premarket session. 

Apple, Inc. has reduced the commission it charges app developers in China, a rare move aimed at avoiding an antitrust review from the local regulator, which was looking into the company’s App Store practices.

In a statement on Friday, Apple said the App Store commissions on in-app purchases and paid app transactions would be reduced to 25% from 30% Monday. The lower rate offered to certain eligible small developers would be reduced from 15% to 12%.

The move would directly translate into higher earnings for Chinese internet companies, and could be a potentially sizable boost for game developers such as Tencent and NetEase. The two publishers lauded the move, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.

Tencent, which has long fought to reduce the so-called “Apple tax”, said in a statement on Friday that the move had “excited the industry”. NetEase, China’s second-biggest games developer, said the reduction “achieves a win-win situation for both the platform and developers.”

“The news is positive for the entertainment sector in general (gaming, music, live-streaming),” investment bank Jefferies said in a report on Friday, as quoted in the SCMP report. “We estimate low-single-digit earnings impact in 2026 for key players.”

Stock Move

Apple shares were 0.3% lower in early premarket trading on Friday, amid broader market weakness linked to the U.S.-Iran war. U.S.-listed shares of NetEase jumped 0.7%. U.S.-listed shares of Tencent do not trade outside of the market hours.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘neutral’ for NTES and ‘bearish’ for TCEHY as of early Friday. Retail sentiment for AAPL was also ‘bearish.’

App Store Fee Backlash

Apple’s App Store commissions, which can reach 30%, have drawn pushback from several top Internet companies and scrutiny from regulators worldwide.

In the European Union, Apple reduced its commission to 17%, with an optional 3% payment processing fee, following the passage of the Digital Markets Act. In Japan, a similar regulatory push led the company to allow alternative app stores and payment systems.

In the U.S., a series of court rulings in the Epic Games litigation have largely dismantled Apple’s ability to collect a workaround commission on external web purchases.

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