Apple · Supreme Court · Ars Technica
Apple takes Major fight over app store fees to the Supreme Court
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
Apple is hoping the Supreme Court will reverse a contempt finding that threatens to block the tech giant from charging high commission fees when developers divert iPhone users to non-Apple payment methods for app purchases.
Key facts
- The contempt finding came in a case where Epic Games accused Apple of violating a judicial order requiring changes to its App Store, which charged a 30 percent commission for using Apple payment
- As the SCOTUS review was announced, a United Kingdom competition watchdog confirmed that it’s preparing to challenge how Apple and Google set up app stores to block link-outs to alternative payment
- That order required Apple to allow developers to include links to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem, but Apple did so only after requiring a 27 percent commission for allowing the link-outs
- In December, Apple lost an appeal after defending its commission as reasonable
Summary
The contempt finding came in a case where Epic Games accused Apple of violating a judicial order requiring changes to its App Store, which charged a 30 percent commission for using Apple payment methods and did not allow developer links to alternative payment methods. That order required Apple to allow developers to include links to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem, but Apple did so only after requiring a 27 percent commission for allowing the link-outs. With seemingly nowhere left to turn, Apple petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in a last-ditch attempt to keep fees at an acceptable rate.