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| Title | APP DEVELOPERS SAY THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH IN-APP PURCHASE IS EXCESSIVE COMMISSION FEES | ||
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| Date | 2025-04-16 | Read | 135 |
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APP DEVELOPERS SAY THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH IN-APP PURCHASE IS EXCESSIVE COMMISSION FEES Koreans purchased paid content an average of 1.43 times per month, spending 13,317 won. The KCC released the “2024 App Market Survey Result” It was found that key unfair practices that Korean app developers experience from app market business operators are app review delays and registration rejections, while the biggest problem with in-app purchases they perceive is excessive commission fees. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC, Chairperson Lee Jinsook) and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA, President Lee Sang-Jung) announced the “2024 App Market Survey Result” on the 11th under Article 22, Paragraph 9 (Obligations of App Market Business Operators and Fact-Finding Surveys) of the Telecommunications Business Act. The survey has been conducted every year since 2022, along with the amendment of the Telecommunications Business Act that prohibits app market business operators from forcing certain payment methods on mobile content and other providers. The 2024 survey was categorized as follows to identify actual app market usage and harms caused by unfair practices. ▲ A “Survey on App Market Operations” based on the materials written and submitted by four app market business operators (Google Play, Apple App Store, Samsung Electronics Galaxy Store, ONE Store). ▲ A “Survey on App Developers” involving 1,200 app-developing businesses that provide or sell apps through app markets. ▲ A “Survey on App Market End Users” that analyzes online survey results from 3,000 Koreans who have purchased paid content and paid apps before. ※ Survey period: app market business operators (August 2024 ? March 2025), app developers, and end users (September ? December 2024) ※ Sampling error: ±2.83% (app developers), ±1.79% (end users), with a confidence level of 95%. The 2023 domestic app market size based on transaction volume was 8.1952 trillion won, which is a 6.4% decrease compared to 8.7598 trillion won in 2022. Apple App Store (10.1%) and Samsung Electronics Galaxy Store (6.3%) saw an increase in their year-on-year revenue, while Google Play (△10.1%) and ONE store (△21.6%) experienced a decline. The share of commissions in the transaction volume of the four app market operators was approximately 14% to 26%. Apple App stores’ commission fee proportion increased by 10%, while Google Play’s commission fee proportion dropped by 10%. The total number of apps registered on the domestic app market is 5,318,182 (duplicate responses across the app market included), a 0.1% increase from the previous year. The number of app developers decreased to 1,636,655 (duplicate responses across the app market included), a 0.65% year-on-year decrease. By category, Photo and Tools (26.1%), Lifestyle (15.6%), and Media and Publications (14.5%) accounted for 56.2% of the total registered apps. The app markets that domestic app developers most use were Google Play (96.4%), and Apple App Store (71.3%) (duplicate responses included). Google Play’s sales share was the highest at 67.5%, followed by Apple App Store (28.2%), ONE Store (2.9%), and Galaxy Store (1.5%). The most common unfair practices that app developers experienced were app review delays (Apple App Store 36.8%, Google Play 26.2%), followed by app registration rejections (Apple 20%, Google 13%) and app removals (Google 8.2% and Apple 3.2%). According to 70.4% of app developer respondents, The biggest problem with in-app purchases was excessive commission fees, followed by unclear payments, including refunds (11.6%) and limited payment options (8.9%). The developers cited unclear review standards (Google 29.8%, Apple 29.6%) and delayed feedback on inquiries (Google 26.1%, Apple 25.3%) as the difficulties they faced during the initial app registration process. The review process of Google Play for initial app registration was mostly within two days (25.6%), while it was six to seven days for Apple App Store (42.5%). The most frequently used app markets in Korea were Google Play (67.2%) and Apple App Store (29.7%), in that order. Respondents said“convenient to use” (67.7%), “already installed” (61.3%), and “a large number of products” (33.5%) as reasons for frequent use. For paid content, Koreans purchased subscrptions an average of 1.43 times per month, spending 13,317 won. One-off payments were made an average of 1.39 times per month, with an average spending of 9,756 won. Among the end users who had purchased paid content before, 28.3% had requested refunds. Refunds were most commonly processed within one week (50.0%), followed by within two weeks (34.4%). The percentage of users who prefer in-app purchases was 74.5%, and 25.5% preferred website purchases. The most commonly cited reason for preferring in-app purchases was the “convenience of purchase,” followed by the “convenience of the refund process.” The respondents preferred website purchases because of low prices. Full details of the survey are available on the KCC website (www.kcc.go.kr). Deputy Director-General of Market Investigation Cheon Ji-hyun said, “The KCC will strive to establish a fair transaction environment in the app market ecosystem, while actively addressing user inconvenience revealed by the survey.” |
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250411 APP DEVELOPERS SAY THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH IN-APP PURCHASE IS EXCESSIVE COMMISSION FEES.docx
250411 (보도자료) 앱 개발자 “인앱결제 가장 큰 문제는 과도한 수수료”.hwp |
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