Apple Takes Money Out Of Developer Pockets
Per the App Store developer agreement, Apple takes 30 percent on any sale of an application through the online market as, essentially, a distribution fee. The remaining 70 percent goes to the developer who invested time and resources in creating the App. But the clause in Section 6, Paragraph 3, titled "Responsibility, Liability and Indemnity," addresses what happens in the event that an App is returned.
"In the event that Apple receives any notice or claim from any end-user that: (i) the end-user wishes to cancel its license to any of the Licensed Applications within (90) days of the date of download of that Licensed Application by that end-user; or (ii) a Licensed Application fails to conform to Your Specifications or Your Product warranty or the requirements of any applicable law, Apple may refund to the end-user the full amount of the price paid by the end-user for that Licensed Application. In the event that Apple refunds any such price to an end-user, You shall reimburse, or grant Apple a credit for, an amount equal to the price for that Licensed Application. Apple will have the right to retain its commission on the sale of that Licensed Application, notwithstanding the refund of the price to the end-user."
The salient bit is worth stating again: "In the event that Apple refunds any such price to an end-user, You shall reimburse, or grant Apple a credit for, an amount equal to the price for that Licensed Application."
That means that if a user returns an application, the developer is on the hook for the entire amount. If an App Store app costs $1, for example, the developer will receive 70 cents on the sale. But if a user returns the app that same developer -- who only makes 70 cents per app -- is on the hook for the entire $1.
This can't be a good policy for Apple. One of the key differentiators between the iPhone and other mobile devices is the App Store. If functionality is more or less the same between smartphones, having access to the multitude of independently developed Apps may just swing the vote Apple's direction.
The rules surrounding the development and posting of an App in the store have been well-chronicled, and developers still chafe at the restrictions Apple hands down. And with Research In Motion preparing to launch App World and the Android Developers market starting to grow, the talent that Apple has become accustomed to may start to explore other options.