Apple continues its struggle with Russia on the App Store. The company will appeal in court the decision of the Russian Federal Antitrust Office to Apple that it should allow the manufacturer to use different payment methods in applications available on the App Store. The bureau had given Apple until September 30 and asked it to change this rule. Despite the threat of penalties, Apple refused to comply with this decision.
The lawsuit has parallels with the legal battle that Apple is continuing in the USA. In the case between Epic and Apple, the judge decided against Apple, and Apple appealed against the decision here as well. However, in 2022, it announced that it plans to change this policy for some media applications.
It is known that Apple’s income is mostly from hardware sales. However, the service business has also started to grow and the revenues from it are decreasing instead of increasing if alternative payment platforms are concerned. In addition, there is a possibility that some applications may deceive users by directing them to malicious payment systems.
It seems that Apple does not have much room to move. Regulatory authorities think that Apple’s current policy does not give the right to choose and therefore harms competition and wants it to change.