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Apple’s Legal Issues Could Change Things For The Better.
But will Judges consider the end user?
Naughty old Apple are in hot water again!
After a lengthy court battle with Epic Games (maker of the popular Fortnite videogame), Apple was ordered to let developers charge users outside Apple’s payments system. Since launch day, developers have had to pay a 15–30% commission to Apple for every sale they made. Its the same process traditional stores operate, with a company like Heinz or Pepsi paying your local grocery chain money for shelf space. Unlike grocery chains who operate on small margins, Apple have been raking it in! Last year alone the App Store brought in $90bn with Apple taking a $30bn cut in commission.
Because the App Store is so lucrative, Apple decided to put an arbitrary protectionist commission of 27% on external payment collection. This is the equivalent of your local grocery chain charging the farm shop down the road money on the things it sells just because you didn’t buy your milk and eggs from them. Obviously a silly and highly uncompetitive move, courts ruled against Apple a second time and told them they had no grounds charging external commission, period.
Apple apologists might say that running an App Store isn’t free. Apple might charge a tax but society doesn’t function without them. In return for their…
