App Store Commission in China Lags Brazil and Japan by 4 to 15 Points

Forty-eight China-based iOS developers have filed an antitrust complaint with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, alleging Apple charges “unfair and excessively high” commission rates on the App Store and failed to deliver on a promise to offer Chinese developers the lowest available rate.

Apple currently charges a 25% commission on paid apps and in-app purchases in China, reduced from 30% in March. Subscription renewals and rates for developers in Apple’s Small Business and Mini Apps Partner programs dropped to 12% from 15% at the same time. The developers argue those cuts don’t go far enough, especially given what Apple has recently agreed to elsewhere.

The comparison to Brazil is where the complaint gets pointed. Apple lowered its commission in Brazil last week to between 10% and 21% plus a 5% processing fee, and made comparable adjustments in Japan late last year. The 48 developers want China to receive at minimum the same treatment.

Their more ambitious ask is structural. They argue that allowing third-party app stores in China, as Apple already does in the European Union under the Digital Markets Act, would push the effective commission as low as 5%. Apple was fined €500 million for violating the DMA last year and has appealed, while in the U.S. it has been ordered to allow external payment links following its legal battle with Epic Games.

A Pattern, Not an Outlier

This complaint is not an isolated moment. A Beijing law firm filed a similar challenge in 2017, a Chinese consumer sued over App Store fees in 2021 (a case rejected by a Shanghai court in 2024), and another Chinese law firm sued again in 2025.

Apple reported that its App Store ecosystem generated more than $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025, with China contributing the largest share at $562 billion. That figure gives regulators a clear sense of the market Apple is defending.