Microsoft and Apple are reportedly embroiled in a spat over the 30 percent fee that Apple charges developers who sell apps through its App Store. First, The Next Web reported that Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage service had become a source of contention. Microsoft added the ability to buy more storage space to its iOS SkyDrive app, but didn’t want to pay Apple a 30 percent commission on those purchases. In response, Apple rejected the latest version of SkyDrive from the App Store.
All Things D is reporting that the SkyDrive skirmish is part of a larger disagreement. Unnamed sources say that Microsoft plans to launch Office for iOS next year but doesn’t want to pay the 30 percent fee on Office 365 subscriptions sold through Office for iOS. Microsoft wants to negotiate, but at this point, Apple says the same rules apply for all iOS developers. “We’ve designed our rules to be fair and consistent for every developer — free apps and services are distributed for free, paid apps and services provide a revenue share to Apple,” said an Apple spokesperson. “We’ve paid out over 6.5 billion dollars to our developer community who have created over 700,000 apps.”
