Latest News U.S. Federal Judge and Epic Games contest whether Apple is in compliance with an order to permit the use of payment steering -
A hearing to hear the evidence from the Epic Games v. Apple case will determine the question of whether Apple is in fact complying with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' order to allow apps developers in order to "steer" users to payment alternative options offered by third party vendors that are not part of the native App Store.
The evidentiary hearing regarding Apple's subsequent compliance began on the 8th day of May. AP reports that judge Gonzalez Rogers " questioned whether Apple had set up the gauntlet of barriers to hinder using alternative payments in iPhone apps," with respect to the court's directive.
The hearing focused on whether Apple Policy Doesn't Change.
The AP report further states that the judge Gonzalez Rogers' tone suggested that Apple's strategy is primarily about protecting Apple's earnings, rather than complying with the intended outcome of her ruling to permit steering, as well as improve iPhone users' ability to easily switch to other available payment methods within the application. The report reveals that, in accordance with Epic news reports, Apple is still blocking customers from steering them towards alternatives to payment methods that provide cheaper options.
The AP report goes on to state that during the process of the hearing the Apple Executive in charge of the iPhone App Store, Matthew Fischer, disclosed that Apple did not have approval for applications to use 38 apps that display links to payment services "a small fraction of the 2 million iPhone applications that are available across the U.S."
PC Mag points out that the low number of applications, 38 of the 65,000 apps developers that offer in-app purchases is likely to be due the expense due to the 27% Apple cost plus the costs associated with credit card fees may result in an overall higher costs for developers.
Apple Executive 'Unaware' of the cost increase problem
The LAW360 story that ran on the 10th of May, Friday recounts the day's activities when Epic attorney Yonatan Even as well as judge Gonzalez Rogers questioned Apple Finance Vice President Alex Roman. Even mentioned the lower cost of 3% that is offered by Apple which is 27 percent when transactions occur without the use of the use of an application for Apple devices, in contrast the usual 30% fee -- as well as Epic further provided proof that the average cost for paying for payments in all of the U.S. is 3.5% which includes a yoga app CEO who said he pays 3.5 percent up to 6.5 cost for payment processing. Then, Roman claimed that he did not know about the fee, Even reiterated that the goal was to create the fee to allow the developers to provide users with an affordable cost. They asked Roman to confirm whether he had been aware about the significance. A judge Gonzalez Rogers is quoted as saying to Roman that "'It appears you made a lot of decisions based on little or no details or facts", she said. "It is my impression that you were trying to protect ... your earnings you earned in the past.'" The LAW360 article is available here.
We are pleased to be able to share the Judge's side together with Epic
Chief Executive Chief Executive Officer David Nachman states that "We're delighted to hear that the judge has sided with Epic with respect to this issue. We're hopeful that the judge will order Apple to let steering be allowed to game and app developers without fees and unnecessary restrictions. Its aim is to ease the way for companies to compete globally in the marketplace for digital and software companies. we join our clients in celebrating the progress toward free mobile commerce."
Additional Antitrust Action Against Apple It was initiated by the US Justice Department
As well as this Epic Games case, the U.S. Justice Department launched an antitrust suit against Apple in March 2024 in which it claimed that Apple has monopoly power over the mobile marketplace which includes (among many others) regarding digital payment.
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