More than 1,500 app developers from Europe and the UK collaborated to file an important class action lawsuit against Apple and seek damages of up to $1 billion. The suit was brought before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and is led by Sean Ennis, a distinguished professor at the Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia, who was also the economist for OECD. The plaintiffs represent 1,566 app developers. Ennis as well as his customers argue that Apple’s App Store fees are astronomical and are a result of Apple’s monopoly on the distribution of apps for iPhones as well as iPads.
According to Ennis Apple’s fees are not just unjust to app developers, but they also represent shady pricing. The control that Apple has over the distribution of apps through its devices allows the company to charge excessive charges, which negatively impacts both app developers as well as app customers.
The service business of Apple has seen rapid growth in revenue during the last few years averaging about $20 billion per quarter however, the company’s practice of charging 15%-30 percent commissions to users of payment apps has drawn criticism from app developers and has drawn to the notice of antitrust authorities across a variety of nations.
Read More:– Why did Apple win its legal settlement with developers?
In a separate antitrust investigation the Spanish watchdog, CNMC, fined both Apple and Amazon for collaborating to block the sales of Apple and other devices within the country. Apple was punished with $159 million while Amazon was fined more than $55 million. The CNMC accuses the two companies of unfairly limiting retailers that sell Apple items on their Amazon marketplace in Spain and resulting in the blockage of more than 90% of the sellers who use the Amazon marketplace for selling Apple devices.
In addition, Amazon curtailed access for sellers outside of Spain within Spain and the European Union to reach Spanish customers and also imposed limitations on the advertising of Apple’s rivals on its website when a user search results in searches for Apple products. Both companies are able to appeal the decision within 2 months.
