Microsoft Pressing Apple to Take a Smaller Cut on Sales ⇥ allthingsd.com

John Paczkowski for AllThingsD:

Sources familiar with the ongoing negotiations between Apple and Microsoft tell AllThingsD that the companies are at loggerheads not over the 30 percent commission Apple asks of storage upgrade sales made through SkyDrive, but over applying that same commission to Office 365 subscriptions sold through Microsoft Office for iOS, which is expected to launch sometime next year.

A while back, I noticed that I was able to top up my Starbucks card¹ through its app. I emailed to ask whether they were getting special treatment from Apple and, after many layers of customer support, I couldn’t get a straight answer. I do believe they are accepting a 30% cut in potential profits through the app, though.

Update: I just spoke with a Starbucks representative and was told that there is no revenue split when reloading a card through the app. Very odd.

Microsoft seems to expect a better deal than any other developer on the App Store. Tough nuts. I do wonder how Microsoft executives feel knowing that they aren’t running the most powerful tech company in the world any more.