There controversy with the App Store and its commissions continues to cause concern in many territories. The company sets a 30% rate for all in-app downloads and payments, which has landed it in numerous legal problems across the world. Many developers believe this is excessive and an abuse of power.
However, what has just happened in China reveals bad news for these developers and good news for Apple. Those from Cupertino ended up taking the lead and the plaintiff developers saw how their arguments were not sufficient.
With Epic Games, it all started
The great App Store controversy began to arise four years ago when, even in the middle of a pandemic, Epic Games started a war that had consequences for everyone. “Fortnite” developers defied Apple and its policies by adding their own payment gateways to avoid the infamous 30% fee, leading to the game’s removal from the App Store.
Epic’s unprecedented campaign against Apple eventually led to a lawsuit in the United States that was partially resolved in Apple’s favor. And the courts ruled that Apple did the right thing in enforcing its policies by vetoing Epic and denied any possible compensation. Of course, with consequences such as the need to lower their prices for small developers (which they have already done).
China agrees with Apple, although calls remain
The fact is that this complaint led by Epic spread like wildfire and In 2021, a lawsuit was filed in China by Jin Xin, a developer who demanded the removal of 30% fees in the App Store, as well as compensation of around $15,000 and even a public apology from Apple.
As expected, Apple did not give in and left everything in the hands of justice. Justice now judged by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, which rejected all calls from the Chinese developer and positioned himself on Apple’s side
For the Chinese court, nothing indicates that Apple is abusing its dominant position. Furthermore, they claim that App Store pricing is similar to other competitors. Without go ing any further, Google also establishes commissions of 30% on Android applications included in its Google Play Store.
So, no obligation to change the rules, no compensation, no excuses. Apple is spared, even if it could be temporarily, since Developer remains convinced Apple is abusing and will file allegations. In this way he confirmed that he would appeal to the Supreme Court of China, so there is still war in this country.
Apple still has several battles to fight for its App Store
I have to say that In the United Kingdom too, a battle is underway for similar topics. In this case, it is a joint lawsuit of more than 1,500 developers who, last summer, took Apple’s famous 30% rate to court. The resolution is still pending.
We then have the case of The United States demands the same from Apple as Europe. On the old continent we have already seen Apple having to comply with the DMA with iOS 17.4, a version full of changes, among which the obligation to allow the installation of other alternative application stores stands out. At the moment everything is following the usual legal channels and there is still no resolution, but it is expected that in the coming months we will know the possible consequences of the claim.
Cover image | Trac Vu and Brian Matangelo on Unsplash
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