(Yicai) Nov. 14 -- Tencent Holdings and Apple have ended lengthy negotiations over commissions on purchases in mini apps, with the US tech giant agreeing to reduce its fees to 15 percent for in-app buys on the Chinese firm's super app Weixin, known internationally as WeChat.

"We're introducing the Mini Apps Partner Program, which expands on the App Store's ongoing support for apps that offer mini apps," Apple announced yesterday. “This program is designed to help developers who host mini apps grow their business and further the availability of mini apps on the App Store -- all while providing a great customer experience.”

Apple charges apps on its App Store with revenue of over USD1 million a so-called "Apple Tax" of 30 percent on in-app purchases, with a 15 percent fee for apps with revenue of less than USD1 million. The commission for mini-programs is also 15 percent.

Tencent's President Martin Lau confirmed ongoing talks with Apple over in-app payments for WeChat during the third quarter conference call yesterday, describing them as "constructive." Most revenue from mini games comes from in-app purchases rather than in-app advertisements, he pointed out.

In August last year, Apple put pressure on Tencent and TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to plug payment loopholes in mini games and to prevent developers from guiding users to external payment systems to bypass the Apple Tax.

The inherent tensions between the gaming and the digital content sectors and app stores stem from the fact that the latter charge about 30 percent commissions, which the gaming industry considers a heavy burden, Tencent management previously said, adding that, whether for regulatory or commercial reasons, these fees should change or decrease over time.

Tencent reported social network revenue from WeChat mini games reached CNY32.3 billion (USD4.6 billion) in the third quarter of this year. More than 80 percent of over 400,000 such game developers are small teams of less than 30 people.

The Apple Tax is facing increasing pressure worldwide, with the European Union reducing it to 17 percent and Japan passing regulations requiring cuts last year. In addition, some 55 Chinese consumers jointly reported that Apple was abusing its dominant market position last month.

Apple said that revenue from service businesses such as the Apple Store jumped 15 percent to a record high of USD28.8 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 27 from a year ago.

Editor: Martin Kadiev