Apple set its 70/30 app store split before the store opened

The workload

Apple's own March 2008 press release states that opening the App Store to outside developers required building a specific set of tools and terms first: a free iPhone Software Development Kit, a paid 'iPhone Developer Program' at '$99 (US) per year' for standard access or '$299 (US) per year' for the enterprise tier, and an app-review process, since third-party applications 'must be approved by Apple' before distribution. A separate 10 July 2008 release states that, on that basis, 'more than 500 native applications' from 'hundreds of companies' were ready at launch, with 'more than 125' offered free, the visible result of that review and preparation work.

What the documents show

Apple's own 6 March 2008 release states the revenue terms plainly and is a verified primary document: 'Developers set the price for their applications, including free, and retain 70 percent of all sales revenues,' with Apple keeping the remainder and covering 'all credit card, web hosting, infrastructure and DRM costs.' That split, and the store's opening days before the iPhone 3G went on sale, are two separate 2008 announcements four months apart, not one event. Apple's current Small Business Program page, a living document retrieved 16 September 2026, states a different rate for some developers today: 'a reduced commission rate of 15% on paid apps' for developers under '1 million USD' in prior-year proceeds, with the standard 30 percent still applying above that.

The operating cost

The March 2008 release names two developer costs directly: the $99 annual Standard Program fee and the $299 annual Enterprise Program fee. The 30 percent Apple retains on paid sales is the ongoing, per-transaction cost of distribution once inside the program; the current Small Business Program page states a lower 15 percent rate applies only up to the $1 million annual proceeds threshold, after which 'the standard commission rate will apply to future sales' for the rest of that calendar year.

The stop condition

Apple's current Small Business Program page states an explicit, recurring stop condition: a developer's 15 percent rate ends for the rest of a calendar year once proceeds cross the $1 million threshold within it, and 'if a developer's proceeds fall below the 1 million USD threshold in a future calendar year, they can re-qualify for the 15% commission the year after.' That is a documented, revenue-based switch, re-evaluated annually. Neither 2008 release states a comparable stop condition; both describe the split as standing, not temporary.

• Does comparing 2008's 30 percent cut to today's 15 percent Small Business rate require naming both dates, given they are different programs under different terms?
• What would a specific app's 2008 launch-week sales need to total before the $99 or $299 annual program fee stopped being the dominant cost?
• Is a developer's proceeds threshold, reset annually, a meaningful stop condition in the same sense as a founder deciding to end a project?

Apple's own 2008 announcements are unusually precise about the App Store's original terms, a dated split, dated fees, a dated app count, which makes the later Small Business Program's different, narrower rate easy to compare against them without guessing.