Apple has reversed its decision to lower affiliate commission rates from 7% to 2.5% for paid iOS apps and will instead only apply the lowered rate to IAPs.
The change was discovered by Mac Gamer HQ, which had enquired about Mac app commission rate changes. A response from Apple stated that Mac apps were not affected, but also suggested that iOS rates would not change either.
Apple has now confirmed that the commission rate for affiliate links to iOS apps will remain at 7%. Affiliate links to IAPs will still see a reduction in commission rate to 2.5%.
Up and down
The initial plan was announced in April 2017, and went into effect on May 1st 2017. Affiliates at the time noticed that no change had been made to paid app commission rates, but Apple did not comment on the lack of change until now.
The company recently raised the prices of apps on the App Store in a number of countries, mainly in Europe, due to foreign exchange rates. It also launched its alternate pricing tier in the countries affected.