Apple is soon going to be embroiled in a class-action lawsuit filed in the UK, regarding its excessive App Store commission policies, as reported by BB.
The class-action was filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, and is aimed at the tech giant's insistence of a 30% cut of all app revenues on the App Store. This practice, the lawsuit claims, essentially robs consumers in order to generate extra revenue that Apple unnecessarily benefits from. Ultimately, the class-action claims that consumers of Apple products could be compensated for over £1.5 billion. That roughly corresponds to $20 million in USD.
Naturally, Apple's spokespeople and lawyers have been quick on the draw and quickly responded to the debacle. Calling the lawsuit to be "meritless", the company actively welcomed an opportunity to discuss the matter in court. Further trying to prove it's point, the statement claimed that 84% of apps on the App Store give Apple no profit, due to being free or a lack of in-app purchases. The tech giant was also quick to bring up a reduced 15% commission from developers that owned start-ups or made less than $1 million per year.
Ultimately, the matter is one of competition and monopoly, an argument that the prosecution will no doubt take up. Apple holds a stronghold on the app marketplace, and thus can charge nearly whatever it wishes. Any and all positive results from the class-action's perspective will draw from either financial compensation, or Apple reducing its commission. More so, as most individuals will be sure to note, this isn't the company's first brawl over its App Store commission.
Epic Games is currently engaged with a lawsuit against Apple on the very same matter, if with a slightly different catalyst. Owing to Apple's high rates, Epic offered discounts to its userbase if they downloaded the popular MOBA Fortnite directly from their store. This discount was, rather pointedly, not extended to the App Store. As a result, Apple blocked Fortnite from their store, and the game was afoot.
Ultimately, it'll be a while before we see any cumulative result of either of these trials. Class-action lawsuits, especially, have a notorious history of dragging on for ages, and decades even. Who knows? Perhaps by the end of this, the free market might actually have won out. Only time will tell, we suppose.
Read next: Apple has established a very secure system over the years and has prevented over $1.5 billion of fraud in 2020
The class-action was filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, and is aimed at the tech giant's insistence of a 30% cut of all app revenues on the App Store. This practice, the lawsuit claims, essentially robs consumers in order to generate extra revenue that Apple unnecessarily benefits from. Ultimately, the class-action claims that consumers of Apple products could be compensated for over £1.5 billion. That roughly corresponds to $20 million in USD.
Naturally, Apple's spokespeople and lawyers have been quick on the draw and quickly responded to the debacle. Calling the lawsuit to be "meritless", the company actively welcomed an opportunity to discuss the matter in court. Further trying to prove it's point, the statement claimed that 84% of apps on the App Store give Apple no profit, due to being free or a lack of in-app purchases. The tech giant was also quick to bring up a reduced 15% commission from developers that owned start-ups or made less than $1 million per year.
Ultimately, the matter is one of competition and monopoly, an argument that the prosecution will no doubt take up. Apple holds a stronghold on the app marketplace, and thus can charge nearly whatever it wishes. Any and all positive results from the class-action's perspective will draw from either financial compensation, or Apple reducing its commission. More so, as most individuals will be sure to note, this isn't the company's first brawl over its App Store commission.
Epic Games is currently engaged with a lawsuit against Apple on the very same matter, if with a slightly different catalyst. Owing to Apple's high rates, Epic offered discounts to its userbase if they downloaded the popular MOBA Fortnite directly from their store. This discount was, rather pointedly, not extended to the App Store. As a result, Apple blocked Fortnite from their store, and the game was afoot.
Ultimately, it'll be a while before we see any cumulative result of either of these trials. Class-action lawsuits, especially, have a notorious history of dragging on for ages, and decades even. Who knows? Perhaps by the end of this, the free market might actually have won out. Only time will tell, we suppose.
Read next: Apple has established a very secure system over the years and has prevented over $1.5 billion of fraud in 2020
