A large group of UK developers have banded together to sue Apple, asking for 785 million pounds ($4.8 billion in direct conversion) in compensation. The more than 1,500 professionals have filed a lawsuit in the British court over the amount of commissions charged on sales within the apps. Apple gets 30% of the transactions made through the App Store payment system.
The case is similar to the dispute between Apple and Epic Games, which accused the Cupertino Giant of antitrust practice for preventing the companies from disclosing their own payment methods and monopoly. One of Epic’s criticisms in the trial was about the 30% commission. However, the most recent ruling did not validate the antitrust and monopoly charge, allowing developers to “only” disclose other payment channels — Apple will appeal the decision.
U.K. lawsuit also accuses Apple of monopoly
Just like Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple, British developers accuse Apple of a monopoly. The lawsuit points out that Apple charges an “excessive” amount in its commission and that it is only possible by the “monopoly in the distribution of apps on the iPhone and iPad” — quotes from Sean Ennis, “leader” of the lawsuit that has more than 1,566 developers.
In the document, the group says the charges are “unfair in their very nature and constitute an abusive price. They are harmful to developers and also to the customers of the apps.” This last argument is based on the fact that some developers can offset the amount of commission by charging a higher amount on sales within iOS apps.
Since these accusations aren’t new and almost always have some popular app reminding them of it, as happened with Telegram and Twitter (I mean, X), Apple has a known answer to this. The company argues that 85% of developers pay no commission, and that its payment system allows devs to access customers and markets in 175 countries.
The next few chapters promise.
