Apple, G’gle in fee fight
APPLE and Google are about to face their first major test under a law targeting their controversial appstore fees — and the result could be a battle in South Korea with the company that owns Tinder.
Match Group — which also owns dating apps such as Hinge, OkCupid and PlentyOfFish — is angling to capitalize on a recently passed Korean law that targets Apple and Google’s fees, which can amount to as much as 30 percent of an app’s revenue.
Match bought Seoul-based dating app Hyperconnect in June for $1.73 billion. Now, the Dallas company plans to submit updates to its apps before the end of October, allowing Korean customers to sidestep Apple and Google’s payments systems, The Post has learned.
While the updates look straightforward and in line with the new legislation, some sources close to Match are bracing for a possible dustup. They’re betting that either Apple, Google or both will drag their feet or reject the updates altogether. That, in turn, could lead to a drawn-out appeals process with regulators, who have threatened to fine companies up to 3 percent of their total Korean revenue if they don’t comply.
The stakes are high for Match, which expects to fork over $500 million in such fees globally this year alone — or about 20 percent of the company’s revenue.
Bills similar to the Korean law have been introduced in the US House and Senate, and European Union regulators said last year that they are probing if Apple’s payments requirement violates the bloc’s competition laws.
On Sept. 16, Match Chief Financial Officer Gary Swidler told The Wall Street Journal that the company was considering offering alternative payments systems to California customers.
The Journal also reported that updates to the company’s Korean apps would be submitted “in the coming months.”
Apple and Google did not reply to requests for comment.