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Apple’s US App Store commission revenue has fallen 18% year-to-date in 2026, according to data from analytics firm Appfigures. The culprit isn’t a sudden drop in app downloads or consumer spending. It’s a courtroom in Northern California.
The decline traces directly back to the Epic Games v. Apple saga, a legal battle that has slowly but steadily chipped away at the commission structure Apple has defended for over a decade. A federal judge’s ruling in April 2025 found that Apple had willfully violated prior injunctions, banning the company from collecting commissions on purchases made through external payment links in the US. That single decision is now showing up in Apple’s bottom line.
How Epic Games rewired the App Store economy
The dispute started in 2020 when Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, challenged Apple’s requirement that all in-app purchases flow through Apple’s payment system, where the company collected a 30% commission.
The April 2025 decision eliminated Apple’s ability to charge any commission on transactions that happen outside the App Store via external payment links. Apple had previously attempted to comply with earlier rulings by adjusting its commission to 27% for purchases through external links. The court viewed that approach as non-compliant with the spirit of the original injunction.
Apple is appealing the rulings, and the case could eventually land at the US Supreme Court.
The $406 billion context
In 2024, the US App Store facilitated $406 billion in developer billings and sales. Over 90% of those transactions incurred zero commission to Apple under the existing framework. The company’s commission income has always been concentrated in a relatively narrow slice of transactions: digital goods, subscriptions, and in-app purchases in games.
The 30% commission rate, sometimes reduced to 15% for smaller developers under a program Apple launched in 2020, has been the foundation of that business. When courts start removing the ability to collect that fee on certain transaction types, the impact compounds quickly.
A regulatory squeeze from multiple directions
The Epic case isn’t happening in isolation. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act has already forced Apple to allow alternative app marketplaces and payment systems in Europe. Japan and South Korea have enacted their own regulations targeting app store commissions.
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English (US) ·