In the past few months, Apple and the game developer Epic have argued violently about the framework conditions for the app store. Now a court has ruled that Apple has put in its place. The group sees it differently.
In the dispute over the business rules in the Apple App Store, the iPhone group suffered a legal defeat.
According to a ruling by a federal court in Oakland, California, Apple must comply with the developers’ provisions for paying for the apps and services. Appeals against the judgment can be lodged.
In the Apple case against the game developer Epic, judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple could not forbid developers to include buttons or links in their apps that refer customers to other payment options outside of Apple’s own in-app purchase system. The ruling also states that Apple cannot prohibit developers from communicating with customers using contact information that the developers received when they signed up within the app.
Rogers granted an injunction requested by Epic, but also sentenced the game maker to pay Apple $ 4 million in damages. The court also contradicted Epic’s view that Apple was an antitrust monopoly in the sub-market for mobile gaming transactions. However, Rogers found that Apple’s behavior in enforcing certain restrictions was anti-competitive.
The core of the dispute between developers like Epic are the commissions that Apple charges in its app store, namely 15 and 30 percent of sales. Epic also wanted to bring down the monopoly on installing apps. But that was not ordered. So far, Apple has only allowed programs to be installed on the iPhone and iPad via the App Store.
Apple interpreted the judgment as a success despite the injunction. “We are very pleased with the decision of the court and see this as a great victory for Apple,” said chief lawyer Kate Adams on Friday evening. “This decision confirms that Apple’s” success is not illegal, “as the judge said,” emphasized Adams in an interview with journalists. After examining the evidence, the court confirmed that Apple was not a monopoly in any relevant market and that the agreements with app developers were legal under antitrust law. “Let me repeat that: The court found that Apple is not a monopoly under either federal or state antitrust law,” said Adams.
Epic boss Tim Sweeney commented on the Apple statement on Twitter: “Today’s verdict is neither a win for developers nor for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition between in-app payment methods and app stores for one billion consumers. ” The Epic game Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store if Epic can offer a payment method for in-app payments in fair competition with the Apple system, in which the savings can be passed on to consumers.
After the verdict, Apple shares fell by around 2.5 percent. Investors were apparently unsure of the effects that the ruling, which has not yet become final, will have on Apple’s future balance sheets.
Epic sued Apple in August 2020 after the iPhone maker removed Fortnite from its app store. Previously, the game company had secretly built a code into its app to avoid paying the commissions to Apple. Epic demanded an injunction in California to stop Apple’s “illegal restraints on competition”.
Epic, which raised more than $ 5 billion in Fortnite last year, is also taking legal action against Apple in the EU, the UK and Australia. In addition, the game manufacturer sued the Internet company Google because of similar business models in the Google Play Store.
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