A judicial decision which is worth billions of dollars. After Europe, Apple is now forbidden to take a commission from purchases made outside the App Store and applications in the United States. Epic Games announces that Fortnite will make a comeback on iPhone.
New legal loss for Apple as part of the App Store monopoly case and the commissions received on purchases of applications, content and services. Already forced to put water in its wine in Europe, the firm has experienced a new setback, in the United States this time, which will cost it very expensive.
Epic Games and Apple have been in conflict for many years. The game publisher had believed to obtain a major victory in 2021 when the judge in charge of the file pronounced The obligation for Apple to open the App Store to third -party payment services. So far, Apple was hiding behind the fact that the company had to be remunerated to provide its payment platform, while blocking alternatives. But the apple brand had bypassed this court decision by imposing a new tax in the event of recourse to a third -party payment option.
The judge tightens the screw to Apple
And we can say that judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not at all appreciate Apple’s attempt not to comply with her requirements. “The fact that Apple thought that this court to tolerate such insubordination was a serious error of calculation”she said, believing that the tech giant had deliberately chosen not to respect his decision by inventing this pirouette. She also referred the case to the prosecutor to launch any prosecution for contempt of the court.
Apple will above all have to comply with several prohibitions, which it will undoubtedly be complicated to bypass. The company will no longer be able to:
- Impose “No commission or costs on purchases made by consumers outside of an application”.
- Restress the style, formatting or placement of developers’ links for purchases outside of an application.
- Block or limit “The use of buttons or other calls for action”.
- Try to prevent consumers from leaving an application with something else “That a neutral message informing users that they go to a third -party site”.
To summarize, application publishers will no longer be taxed on the transactions carried out on the web and Apple will no longer be able to set up systems preventing them from returning users to their own payment platform, nor restrict certain features. Victory is total for Epic Games and the other developers. “We are in deep disagreement with this decision. We will comply with the court order and call”reacted Olivia Dalton, principal director of Communication of Apple, in a declaration addressed to The Verge.
Billions of dollars at stake
“In the end, Apple sought to maintain income of several billion dollars by categorically defying the court injunction”estimates Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. After investigation, it appears that the director of the App Store, Phil Schiller, tried to convince his management that he was preferable to respect the court decision. But it was the CEO of Apple Tim Cook, influenced by its financial director Luca Maestri, who had the last word and preferred to challenge the judicial order.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, of course was delighted with this umpteenth turnaround. “No fees on the transactions passing by the web. No more Apple tax. The unwanted costs of 15 to 30 % of Apple are now also abolished in the United States, as in Europe under Digital Markets Act. Illegal here, illegal there. 4 years 4 months 17 days.”he reacted, reference to the time during which Apple did not comply with the first injunction.
“We will take Fortnite on the IOS App Store in the United States next week”adds the boss of Epic. It also offers a “Peace proposal” to his rival: “If Apple extends the frame without friction and without the Apple tax of the court worldwide, we will return Fortnite to the App Store around the world and abandon current and future disputes on the subject”he said. A way of reaching out while sending the ball back to Apple’s camp, knowing very well that the latter will ignore his offer.
