>>With Apple's standard pricing, they would have gotten 30% of $9.99 with the Amazon model, but they pushed for publishers and authors to have more say on pricing, with a result that Apple would get 30% of $12.99 (and higher).
Apple gets 30% of the incremental $3.00, or 90 cents higher than they would have gotten with $9.99 sales. From Apple's POV and possibly DOJ's, it is that $.90 that is Apple's price-fixing compensation. <<
Under the agency model, the publishers set the book prices. Apple's only interest was in not being undersold. So the publishers agreed not to sell the books for lower prices in other outlets.
Another point that seems to be missed, continuously, is that the 30% cut Apple takes doesn't generate significant profits for them. It covers their costs in maintaining the online store, credit card processing, administration, etc. |
