Antimonopoly Officials Raid Apple's South Korean Office

Buzz

Ngày cập nhật gần nhất: 15/4/2026

Officials from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a surprise search at Apple's office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in the early hours of the local morning. This action follows suspicions that the corporation charges a 33% 'revenue sharing' fee on every virtual item and service transaction within apps distributed through the App Store, contrary to Apple's claimed 30%.

Previously, Apple also reached a settlement in an antitrust case in South Korea, where authorities argued that Apple intentionally leveraged the corporate scale to engage in unhealthy competition, pressuring smaller companies. Now, it's the turn of the Korea Mobile Game Association (KMGA) to accuse Apple with the country's fair trade commission, alleging that Apple is imposing a 33% revenue-sharing fee instead of the claimed 30%.

According to ChosunBiz, KMGA has raised tax-related concerns. Essentially, when a user purchases an app or virtual items in a mobile game, or paid services within an app, the user is required to pay a 10% VAT for each transaction, according to South Korean tax laws. KMGA argues that app developers should only contribute a 30% revenue share pre-tax. However, Apple charges a 30% revenue-sharing fee based on the post-tax amount, essentially taking 30% of the 10% tax, resulting in developers losing 33% to Apple instead of 30%.

Ideally, this complaint should be handled by the regional FTC representative. However, due to South Korea's robust stance on unfair competition allegations, the highest-ranking officials of the South Korean government's FTC conducted a search at Apple's representative office in the country.

According to KMGA, due to this fee structure, Apple 'owes' app developers in South Korea a total of $241 million from 2015 to 2022. As of now, Apple has not provided an official response to these allegations.

As per Apple Insider

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