iPhone sales are falling, and Apple’s app fees might be next

FILE - This March 19, 2018, file photo shows Apple's App Store app in Baltimore. As its iPhone sales slip, Apple has been touting its growing digital-services business as the engine that will keep profits up. But there may be a catch. Apple currently pockets a generous commission on all subscriptions and other purchases made on iPhone apps. But a brewing backlash against the company’s cut, which ranges from 15 to 30 percent, could undercut the app store’s profitability just as Apple is counting on it most. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

SAN FRANCISCO: Last year, every time someone paid US$11 for Netflix through an iPhone app, Apple pocketed as much as US$3.30. Multiply that by every charge made through iPhone apps and you can see why Netflix and other companies are fed up about what they consider Apple’s unfair market power. 

Late last year, Netflix rebelled against Apple’s fees, which can range from 15% to 30%. Analysts fear other companies may follow. And attorneys representing consumers in a pending Supreme Court case charge that Apple is an unfair monopolist in the market for iPhone apps. An adverse decision in that case could open a legal door that might eventually force Apple to cut its generous commissions.