Apple drops commission rates in China without a fuss

Apple is dropping its commission rate in the App Store in China to 25% from 30% following discussions with the Chinese regulator, the company said Thursday. The new 25% commission will apply to paid apps and in-app purchases, while a lower 12% commission (down from 15%) will be charged for auto-renewals of in-app purchases after their first year. The changes go into effect on March 15, 2026, and will not require developers to accept new terms, Apple said. The decision to adjust commissions without a long, public battle indicates both how important China is to Apple’s market, as well as how Apple sees its App Store’s business value. The company in its first quarter reported soaring iPhone sales in China, with revenue up 16% year-over-year , helping it deliver a record-breaking quarter. Compared with the EU , where Apple and regulators have been going back and forth on commission changes for years , Apple seemingly dropped its rates in China without pushback. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Apple prevailed in a legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games, as a judge decided the iPhone maker was not a monopoly , though developers won the right to route their users to alternative purchase methods (at least for now ). As a result, Apple has kept the same rates in the U.S., though it has programs that offer discounted rates for various parties, like small businesses . The changes in China are documented in the new version of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement . “We are committed to terms that remain fair and transparent to all developers, and to always offering competitive App Store rates to developers distributing apps in China that are no higher than overall rates in other markets,” the company said in its announcement. Topics app store , Apple , Apps , China , Commerce , Government & Policy Sarah Perez Consumer News Editor Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal. View Bio June 9 Boston, MA Actively scaling? Fundraising? Planning your next launch? TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 delivers tactical playbooks and direct access to 1,000+ founders and investors who are building, backing, and closing. Register by March 13 to save up to $300. REGISTER NOW Most Popular Lovable says it added $100M in revenue last month alone, with just 146 employees Anna Heim DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive, report says Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai Meta acquired Moltbook, the AI agent social network that went viral because of fake posts Amanda Silberling Google rolls out new Gemini capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive Aisha Malik Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs raises $1.03B to build world models Anna Heim Anthropic launches code review tool to check flood of AI-generated code Rebecca Bellan OpenAI hardware exec Caitlin Kalinowski quits in response to Pentagon deal Anthony Ha