1/ One thing a lot of people forget in the App Store take rate discussion is that Stripe only operates in 42 countries, doesn’t automatically collect/pay sales tax, doesn’t handle local compliance, etc. There are Stripe apps you can pay to handle some of that, but not all.

2/ The App Store operates in 166 countries, collects and pays all taxes, handles local compliance, etc. Calculating the overlap would be a PITA, but after a quick look at my revenue this year, I’d guess I earn at least 5% more because of all the additional App Store countries.

3/ China alone (where Stripe doesn’t operate) is 1.5% of my revenue and has been higher in the past. So, the 15% I’ll be paying Apple in 2021 really feels more like 10% because they help me make an additional 5% with support for all those additional countries.

4/ It’s disingenuous to say that Apple is _just_ a payment processor and should charge the same as Stripe. At a bare minimum, you’d need Stripe + a tax SaaS + additional help with taxes/compliance. And even then you’d get 42 countries instead of 166.

5/ As anyone who has been following me for years knows, I’m not shy about bashing Apple when I think they’re wrong. But I just don’t think the 30% is that bad of a deal for everything Apple does not just with payments, but creating the App Store and the rest of the platform.

6/ Apple creating the App Store Small Business Program wasn’t resetting to a more fair rate and only doing it for small developers, it was a subsidy/stimulus plan for small developers (for PR, antitrust breathing room, spurring innovation, encouraging entrepreneurship, etc)

7/ I’ve argued for years that conversion/dunning/etc. when Apple already has a customer’s credit card & allows them to pay with their face/fingerprint more than makes up for the 30% (developers who have tested it have confirmed that IAPs really do convert way better than Stripe)

8/ There are so many other things that are more meaningful to innovation and the future of mobile apps than paying Apple a cut (15% or 30%). I’m working with @jeiting on a post to suggest some of those next steps Apple could take to regulate itself before governments do.