Big lawsuit against Apple
Apple has been the target of a £785m ($1bn) class action lawsuit filed by more than 1,500 UK app developers over App Store fees. Revenues for Apple’s services business, which includes the App Store, have continued to grow rapidly over the past few years. According to recent reports, Apple’s services wing currently generates around $20 billion in revenue per quarter.
Although the App Store is a money printing machine for Apple, there is discomfort on the other side of the coin. Many developers complain that Apple charges them up to 30 percent for using the in-app payment system. Apple is also on the radar of regulatory agencies.
Abuse of dominant position
The lawsuit, on the other hand, is a class action lawsuit, meaning that UK-based developers do not need to register to participate in any potential gains. If the plaintiffs prevail against Apple, the level of compensation payable per developer will be calculated based on iOS app jobs – so payouts can vary widely and in some cases even be millions of dollars.
Companies like Spotify and Epic have been opposing Apple’s unfair “tax” for years. Both firms have filed their own high-profile complaints to regulators and courts on both sides of the Atlantic against App Store policies and fees, with varying degrees of success. Even Elon Musk described Apple’s commission on in-app purchases as a de facto global tax on the internet.