The facts: U.S. Federal Judge and Epic Games contest whether Apple has complied with an Order to allow payment steering -
Hearings for an evidentiary hearing regarding this Epic Games v. Apple trial will determine the extent to which Apple really has complied with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' order for developers of apps to "steer" users towards payments via third party service providers, which don't appear in Apple's App Store's own App Store.
The Apple hearing regarding its later compliance started on May 8. AP reports that the hearing was conducted by judge Gonzalez Rogers " questioned whether Apple puts up with an array of obstacles put in place to block users from using alternative payments within iPhone apps," against the court's order.
HTML1 The hearing focussed on whether Apple Policy is Still anti-steering
The AP report adds it is believed that judge Gonzalez Rogers' tone suggested Apple's decision-making has been centered on increasing the margins of Apple's profit, rather than complying with her decision to allow steering and increase iPhone users' ability to switch easily between various payments in the app. It also explains that in the case of Epic accounts, Apple is still blocking developers from directing customers to other payment options that are cheaper alternative options.
The AP report continues to say that during the meeting Apple chief executive officer of the iPhone App Store, Matthew Fischer stated that Apple has only accepted and approved 38 apps that show links to payment options, "a fraction of the about 2 million iPhone applications that are available across the U.S."
PC Mag points out that there is a low percentage of apps (38 out of 65,000 app creators who offer in-app purchasesmost likely due to the price of the 27 percent Apple fee as well as the expense of credit card fees is likely to lead to a higher total price for app creators.
Apple Executive 'Unaware' an underlying problem with higher costs
A LAW360 story on May 10, 2015 describes the events that occurred as Epic lawyer Yonatan Even and the Judge Gonzalez Rogers questioned Apple Finance Vice President Alex Roman. The judge also mentioned a lower cost of 3% charged by Apple which is 27 percent for transactions without the application using Apple devices, in contrast to the standard in-app 30-percent charge. Epic further provided proof that the price for payment in the U.S. is 3.5 percent. It also included a yoga app CEO who testified that he pays 3.5 percent or 6.5 charges for processing payments. Following that, Roman said he was not aware of this issue. Even stating that the intention was to establish a price that would allow the creators to give users more value when he demanded Roman whether he had been aware of this. A Judge Gonzalez Rogers is quoted as telling Roman that "'It seems that you took many decisions based on any data or information you could use. It sounds as if you're trying to safeguard ... your income that you've earned in the past.'" Get the LAW360 report here.
I'm pleased to join the Judge team with Epic
Chief Executive Chief Executive Officer David Nachman states that "We're delighted to have the judge has sided with Epic of Epic with regard to this issue. We're optimistic that the court will be able to compel Apple to allow steering granted to game developers and apps without having to pay to pay fees or limit. The goal is to make it easier to conduct worldwide transactions both for digital and software companies. We're also together with our customers to celebrate the progress towards a more seamless and accessible shopping experience on phones and tablets."
Additional Antitrust Action against Apple This action was started by the US Justice Department
Additionally, in the Epic Games case, the U.S. Justice Department launched an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in March 2024 and claimed the fact that Apple is the sole major player in the market for smartphones, which includes (among many other aspects) regarding electronic payments.
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