Apple Is Caving Big Time

I don't think that big.

A lowering of app store fees is one thing. Really loosening control of the app store is another thing.

Doubling the fees at the $1,000,000 mark lights up many of my "institution design" danger signals.

Regimes like this usually cause people to change their business so they stay under the $1,000,000 mark. For instance in France the employment law gets rigorous for firms that employ more than 50 people so you find a lot of 49 person firms.

People feel resentful when they feel they are being exploited or controlled and some will forgo $10,000 in revenues to save $1000 in taxes or fees.

Two factors that impact this are:

- the "two-sided market" means that each app install creates (global) value for existing apps. (e.g. 100 mini-Facebooks are not as valuable as 1 Facebook)

- others follow the "spray and pray" model where they mass produce a family of apps and since it costs much less than $10⁶ to form a legal entity it makes sense to disperse.