Amazon AppStore commission, just like Apple Tax and Google’s Android Play Store, is 30 percent. Now the retail giant has indicated it will take a lower amount from developers.
Amazon has announced a new “Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program” which should encourage more developers to its Android and Fire OS app store. In addition to charging a lower commission, Amazon will also offer AWS (Amazon Web Services) credits.
Amazon AppStore for Android and Fire OS will take a 20 percent cut but offer AWS credits:
Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program will soon come into effect. It could get up-and-coming developers to take up app development for Amazon’s Android and Fire OS app store.
The new program will reduce the commission Amazon takes on app developers’ revenues. The program is valid for smaller businesses that fulfill certain criteria.
Amazon has decided it would really like to attract more developers to its Android and Fire OS app store, so it’s following in the the footsteps of Apple (and Google) by announcing a new “Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program” that takeshttps://t.co/YNdrRUYYOO pic.twitter.com/OfuvU9YXy0
— Cherumbu News (@sanalnly) June 17, 2021
Just like the industry standard, Amazon too took a 30 percent cut from app developers. Not just every sale of a paid app or service but even in-app purchases were subject to the Amazon Tax.
Moving ahead, Amazon will take a 20 percent cut from developers. To qualify for the reduced cut, developers must have earned less than $1 million in the prior calendar year. It is important to note that Google and Apple had reduced their commissions for smaller businesses from 30 to 15 percent.
If a developer earns less than $1 million in sales per year, the new terms, which Amazon is dubbing the Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program, will also reward them with AWS promotional credit equal to 10% of their income. pic.twitter.com/gYTKIOgwak
— Plat4om (@Plat4omLive) June 17, 2021
Amazon, on the other hand, will charge a 20 percent commission. However, it will give developers an additional 10 percent in “AWS promotional credits.”
Technically speaking, if an app developer is using Amazon’s popular AWS cloud services, they could qualify to keep 90 percent of the money earned through the Amazon AppStore. This is also a clever technique to coax developers into using Amazon AWS instead of Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, etc.
Do developers actually benefit from the Small Business Accelerator Program?
It is important to note that the Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program is a “program”. This means, not every developer or company will qualify to keep a larger portion of revenue.
Additionally, just like Apple and Google, developers could automatically exit from the program or disqualify once their revenue rises beyond $1 Million.
Amazon Plans (aka Amazon Appstore Small Business Accelerator Program) is almost the same as those of Google, Apple and Microsoft. https://t.co/5Hh1H8pgb9
— Giz China (@Gizchina) June 17, 2021
Still, if a developer shifts to AWS, they have the opportunity to effectively retain 90 percent of their revenue by utilizing the AWS credits. AWS services include infrastructure technologies like compute, storage and databases — to emerging technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, data lakes and analytics, and Internet of Things, claimed Amazon.
. @amazon is launching a $150 million Black Business Accelerator program for third-party sellers on the site. https://t.co/rpNHJpmfAM #BlackOwnedBusiness #blackbusiness pic.twitter.com/wQmoLunKO8
— Small Business Trends (@smallbiztrends) June 16, 2021
Such benefits from tech giants are arriving right at the time they are under increasing regulatory pressure over the nature of their businesses. Several smaller and even larger app publishers claim Apple, Google (and perhaps even Amazon) are anti-competitive and monopolistic.
Presumably sensing growing trouble, Apple and Google lowered fees for smaller businesses as a gesture of goodwill. Needless to mention, the reduction for a few qualifying small businesses won’t make any major dent in the companies’ revenues from app stores.