On Friday, a judge denied Apple’s request to have a lawsuit worth almost $1 billion dismissed, holding that the company must answer to claims that it unfairly charged commissions to over 1,500 developers in the UK when they bought apps and other content.
Apple’s 30% cut of all App Store sales is the target of the action, which was initially launched in 2023 and is being heard by London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
The app Store is the sole option available to UK iPhone owners and developers because, despite being located in Europe, the UK is not a member of the European Union and, as a result, third-party software marketplaces are not accessible.
Sean Ennis, a professor of competition law and economist leading the lawsuit, claims that Apple abused its dominating market position and is suing for damages.
Regulators in the US and Europe have been putting increasing pressure on Apple because of the fees it charges independent developers to distribute their programmes through the App Store.
According to the firm, 85% of developers on its App Store don’t even pay a commission.
Apple has been compelled by new legislation in the European Union to permit consumers to download programmes from competitors’ websites and other app stores.
In the meantime, the US version of the App Store had modifications as a result of an ongoing legal dispute with Epic Games, the creators of “Fortnite”.
At a hearing in January, Daniel Piccinin, an attorney for Apple, contended that developers would not be able to bring a claim in the UK unless they were billed for transactions made via the UK App Store.
We earlier reported that Apple backed down from its conflict with Epic Games in response to pressure from European regulators, allowing Epic to launch its game shop on iPhones and iPads in the region.
