markup not the problem
The problem with Apple's subscription is NOT the markup. Apple has the right to markup the price of subscriptions as it might want.
The problem (antitrust and price fixing) comes from forcing the subscription service to not take subscriptions from more efficient channels at a possibly lower price. Few if any channel now takes 30% off the top. That makes the Apple App store very inefficient. Efficiency in this context means high transactions costs.
When Apple forces ALL subscriptions to cost at least as much as through Apple it prevents the various channels from competing. And Apple is trying to illegally preclude anyone from competing on price.
Can Walmart control the retail price charge by Tower for a Sony TV? I am sure Walmart wishes it could. But, what if Tower wanted to do the same with Walmart? How would that work?
Can a Ford dealer control the retail price at another Ford dealer?
This is precisely what Apple is trying to force upon media suppliers. Give Apple 30% plus the ability to preclude anyone else from competing on price.
Or, what? Be excluded from convenient access to Apple customers. Customers owed and controlled by Apple. That is a protection racket. Apple is demanding a 30% cut not because it is providing value but rather because it can exclude access to Apple owned customers.
Now you know that Apple thinks it owns its customers. And it will cause prices to be high for them and everyone else just so it can grab its 30%.
Any service that subscribes through Apple will charge a much higher subscription charge regardless of the channel. About 42% is needed to cover the 30% cut Apple demands. That means that even if you go to the web site for the service directly, it's price has to be up that 42% as well.
Nothing here benefits consumers. Apple demands a 30% cut just for the convenience of clicking a button? And the jerkheads demand the same high price be charged to all consumers even if they do not have the convenient button.
Apple can charge 30% if it wants. But that results in a 42% increase for consumers. And Apple can not legally force subscribers to pay the same high rate through other channels. Neither can it legally preclude a supplier unless they give up their right to price according to the efficiency of the channels they use.
A $100 subscription must be raised to $142.86 to cover that 30% cut.
On Android the same subscription would only cost $111.11 to cover a 10% fee. That is $31.75 more if you are an Apple customer.
So Apple decided it had to preclude price competition on Android and even direct web sites. But, that is illegal. And Apple lawyers know that.
Every vendor on the planet would like to be able to control the retail price charged by a competitor. Or, if you are a store, eliminate any products that might compete with your own.
It is clear that Apple wants a monopoly position. And it wants to charge monopoly like prices.
Apple clearly does not want to let its customers know that they are paying higher prices than everyone else (42% higher). So it has to force suppliers to give up their right to price their products in all other markets.
Apple does not want to look like the expensive alternative it is when it trys to take a 30% cut. Who would want that? Certainly not Apple customers.
Avoid buying all Apple products. Now or in the future you will be forced to pay higher prices for services not even provided by Apple. Because the idiots at Apple think they owe you and they will use your presence to collect protection money from others. That is what they are doing today.
Products and services will be available at a lower cost going directly to the supplier or even through Android. Googles's 10% fee may also be too high. But, at least Google does not try to illegally control the retail price for such services when delivered through other channels.
Apple is run by idiots. That is dead obvious. They are trying to avoid competition on price. And they are trying to profit illegally from fools and idiots that previous bought an Apple device.