It has been investigated that application (app) market operators such as Google and Apple take a commission of up to 26% from transaction amounts in South Korea. The domestic app market transaction amount is estimated to be around 8.2 trillion won. App developers cited "excessive commissions" as the biggest problem with in-app payments.
The Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency announced the results of the "2024 app market status investigation" on the 11th. This is the result of a survey conducted on app market operating corporations such as Google Play, Apple App Store, Samsung Electronics Galaxy Store, and ONE store, along with 1,200 app development companies. It also included the results of an online survey of 3,000 general citizens.
According to the survey results, 8.1952 trillion won was transacted in the domestic app market in 2023. This is a 6.4% decrease compared to the previous year. The transaction amounts increased for Apple App Store (10.1%) and Samsung Electronics Galaxy Store (6.3%), while Google Play (10.1%) and ONE store (21.6%) saw a decrease in transaction amounts. The number of apps registered in the domestic app market increased by 0.1% compared to the previous year, totaling 5,318,182, while the number of app developers decreased by 0.65% to 1,636,655.
The commission charged by app market operating corporations was found to be about 14% to 26% of the transaction amounts. The Korea Communications Commission did not disclose the commission rates charged by individual corporations. Compared to the previous year, the commission for Apple App Store increased by about 10%, while Google Play saw a decrease of about 10%.
The most used app market by domestic app developers is Google Play (96.4%). The revenue share was highest for Google Play (67.5%), followed by Apple App Store (28.2%), ONE store (2.9%), and Galaxy Store (1.5%).
App developers collectively noted that app market operating corporations are "unfairly delaying app registration reviews." The proportion of those who experienced delays in app reviews at Apple App Store was 36.8%, while it was 26.2% at Google Play. The experience of app registration rejection was reported at 20% for Apple and 13% for Google. There were also cases of app deletion (Google 8.2%, Apple 3.2%). The time required for app review for initial registration was often processed within 2 days (25.6%) for Google Play, while for Apple App Store, it was reported as within 6 to 7 days (42.5%).
Seventy percent of app developers indicated that the biggest problem with in-app payments is "excessive commissions." They also pointed out "lack of clarity in revenue settlement such as refunds" (11.6%) and "limited payment method choices" (8.9%) as issues.
Google Play (67.2%) was the app market most frequently used by consumers, followed by Apple App Store (29.7%). The proportion of users who prefer in-app payment methods is 74.5%, while 25.5% prefer website payments.
Chun Ji-hyun, a market investigation officer at the Korea Communications Commission, said, "We will actively improve the inconvenience revealed in this survey and strive to create a fair transaction environment in the app market ecosystem."