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Apple's Tax Rates: US 8%, Europe 17%

After the iPhone 4s opened up the market for Apple, "Apple phones" have become the first choice for young people when buying mobile phones.

Especially in our country, more than half of the young people choose Apple, but facing such a huge market, Apple not only does not cherish it, but also starts to make various troubles.

From Apple's tax, we can see that they charge 8% in the United States and 17% in Europe, so how much do they charge us?

Apple has always been famous for having a large number of "Apple fans", but in terms of tax policy, it has made developers from different countries and regions taste different "fruit flavors".

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It is understood that Apple only charges 15% commission for developers with an annual income of less than 1 million US dollars in the United States, and only charges 30% commission for developers with an annual income of more than 1 million US dollars.

In contrast, domestic developers may be envious to death, you know that no matter how much your income in China, Apple will charge 30% "protection fee", this difference is not small.

Looking at Europe again, Apple's tax policy seems to be not so "cruel", according to the digital market law promulgated by the European Union, Apple can only charge a commission of no more than 17% for European developers.

In contrast, the "tax" that Chinese developers pay to Apple is almost twice that of Europe, and the introduction of this policy is not unrelated to the European Union's previous anti-monopoly investigation of Apple.

It is reported that the European Union once determined that Apple's behavior in the App Store constitutes a monopoly and imposed a huge fine.

In the end, under the "strict punishment" of the European Union, Apple had to bow its arrogant head.

In contrast, Apple seems to be completely uncontrolled in China, here, it charges 30% "Apple tax" for all developers, which has caused widespread dissatisfaction.

Some developers who do not want to be "cut leeks" have even filed a lawsuit in court, but Apple still goes its own way and does not show any sign of concession.

So how should our country deal with this?

If the difference in Apple's global tax policy is just a "minor evil", then its "double standard" in the Chinese market can be called a "major evil".

As we all know, Apple has always been proud of its "Apple fans", and they are particularly fond of the Chinese market, but in the matter of collecting "Apple tax", it has a different look at Chinese developers.

Faced with Apple's "double standard", Chinese developers are naturally full of grievances, you know that developing an APP, from research and development to promotion, every link requires a lot of manpower and financial investment.

Now that we have finally developed an APP, we have to pay 30% "protection fee" to Apple before we can recover the cost, which is nothing more than "drawing water with a bamboo basket".

What's more, in China, Apple's "tyrannical clause" is almost a "lawless ruffian", no matter you are a big company or a small workshop, you can't escape its "claws".

Even a super APP like WeChat has to pay a huge "tribute" to Apple every year, under such a "heavy tax", how can Chinese Internet companies innovate and develop?

In fact, Apple's "double standard" in China not only hurts the interests of Chinese developers, but also hurts the feelings of Chinese consumers.

You know, the cost of APP development will eventually be transferred to consumers.

If Apple wants to "ask for a high price", Chinese consumers have to pay for it, and on the other hand, Apple's actions in the Chinese market have also made many consumers feel "love but can't get".

On one hand, they love Apple's products, and on the other hand, they are dissatisfied with its "double standard", this kind of contradictory psychology is probably only Chinese Apple fans can understand.

Of course, in the face of Apple's "double standard", Chinese developers and consumers are not without the power to fight back, it is understood that some domestic companies have started to "draw a sword" to Apple, and maintain their own rights and interests through legal means.

And consumers are also voting with their feet, turning to support platforms that are more friendly to developers, in this sense, Apple's "double standard" in China is nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst, and in the end it will only damage its own interests.

So, since Apple has caused such a big "monopoly" in the Chinese market, can we just let it go?

Behind Apple's tax policy, it is actually a game about monopoly and anti-monopoly.

On the one hand, Apple relies on its strong influence in the global market to implement "invisible" monopoly on developers and consumers; on the other hand, governments and judicial authorities of various countries are also using laws and policies to restrict and standardize Apple's monopoly behavior.

In this game, whether Apple has the upper hand or consumers and developers have won the victory?

The answer is probably still to be revealed by time.

Objectively speaking, Apple's collection of "Apple tax" is not entirely unreasonable, as the developer and maintainer of the iOS system, Apple needs to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to ensure the security and compatibility of the application.

At the same time, Apple also needs to use certain economic means to motivate developers to develop more high-quality applications, thereby enriching the iOS ecosystem, from this perspective, Apple's collection of a certain proportion of commission seems to be justified.

However, the problem is whether Apple's collection of "Apple tax" has exceeded the reasonable range?

Whether it has constituted "blackmail" to developers and consumers?

On this point, even Apple itself is hard to give a convincing answer, you know, Apple has an absolute monopoly position on the iOS system, developers and consumers have no choice, and can only accept the "conditions" it offers.

Under this situation, there is actually no restriction on how much commission Apple wants to collect, 30%, 50%, 80%, or even higher are not impossible.

In fact, Apple's monopoly behavior in the global scope has already aroused the vigilance of governments and judicial authorities of various countries.

In the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea, etc., Apple is facing anti-monopoly investigations and lawsuits, among which, the European Union has imposed huge fines on Apple and required it to adjust the policy of the App Store.

In these areas, Apple finally had to bow its head and admit the penalty, relaxed restrictions on developers, and reduced the commission ratio, this result is undoubtedly a victory for consumers and developers.

However, in the Chinese market, Apple's monopoly behavior seems to have not been restricted as it should be, although there are also consumers in China who sue Apple for monopoly, but related cases are often difficult to get the support of the court due to insufficient evidence and other reasons.

This is on the one hand related to the strength of China's anti-monopoly law enforcement, but also reflects the lack of consumer rights awareness in China, in this situation, Apple's "arbitrary" behavior in China is not surprising.

In the long run, to truly curb Apple's monopoly behavior, it still requires the joint efforts of the government, enterprises and consumers.

On the one hand, the government needs to increase the strength of anti-monopoly law enforcement, improve relevant laws and regulations, and create a fair competition environment for enterprises and consumers.

On the other hand, enterprises also need to have the courage to maintain their own rights and interests through legal means, and use actions to say "no" to monopoly, then, in the face of Apple's "double standard" behavior in China, how should Chinese enterprises and relevant departments deal with it?

In fact, we can neither compromise and retreat nor simply confront and reject, but should maintain our own rights and interests while striving to create a good interactive market environment.

For Chinese enterprises, the primary task is to get rid of excessive dependence on Apple, in the current market pattern, Apple's influence in China cannot be underestimated, a large part of the income of many domestic APPs comes from the Apple App Store.

Once they lose the "protection" of Apple, these enterprises are likely to be difficult to continue, therefore, domestic enterprises should take the initiative to "de-Apple", and diversify business risks by developing other channels.

At the same time, enterprises should also have the courage to maintain their legitimate rights and interests through legal means, when Apple's "double standard" behavior has constituted a monopoly, enterprises should stand up and defend fairness and justice with the weapon of law.

Of course, to fundamentally change the current situation of Apple's "double standard", we still need to explore the deep-seated reasons behind it, in fact, Apple's arbitrary behavior in China is related to its monopoly position, but it is also inseparable from the particularity of the Chinese market.

On the one hand, China has a vast territory and a huge market size, which makes Apple unable to resist the temptation of "profit-seeking".

On the other hand, China's legal environment is relatively weak, and the strength of anti-monopoly law enforcement is insufficient, which gives Apple the opportunity to "take advantage of the loopholes".

Therefore, in the long run, to truly curb Apple's "double standard", it is necessary to comprehensively improve China's level of legalization and create a more standardized and transparent market environment.

In general, the background of Apple's "double standard" reflects the game between multinational companies and emerging markets, as the host, China should take a more mature and rational attitude, neither humble nor arrogant, nor profit-seeking.

We should learn to maintain our own rights and interests in a legal way, and at the same time, we should learn to embrace the opportunities of globalization with an open mind, only in this way can we win respect and the future in this game.

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