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During Monday’s hearing, a London tribunal heard allegations that Apple had exploited its market dominance to charge app developers an unfair 30% commission through the App Store. The complainants claimed that this practice had cost British consumers as much as £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).
The US tech behemoth is facing a massive lawsuit on behalf of around 20 million iPhone and iPad customers in the United Kingdom who claim to have been overcharged for app sales.
The claims are baseless, according to Apple, who further claims that the lawsuit fails to take into account the advantages of its integrated iOS system, which places an emphasis on privacy and security. This claim is the first big case against a tech company in Britain under new rules for group lawsuits, and there are other similar cases waiting to go to trial.
Later in 2025, a comparable $1.1 billion case will commence against Google about its app store commission.
Allegations by Rachael Kent
British scholar Rachael Kent has filed a lawsuit claiming that Apple has generated “exorbitant profits” by blocking competitors from the app distribution and in-app purchase fields. According to Kent’s legal team, Apple is able to charge exorbitant commissions and impose stringent rules on customers because of its exclusivity.
“Apple is not just dominant … it holds a 100% monopoly position,” said Mark Hoskins, Kent’s lawyer.
But Apple retorts that 85 percent of app developers don’t pay royalties. According to Marie Demetriou, the company’s lawyer, the commission is a reflection of the value that Apple has created via the innovation of the iOS ecosystem.
In his analysis of Kent’s case, Demetriou notes that Apple’s IP rights are disregarded. He describes the demand that Apple grant developers unrestricted access to its technology as “expropriation of property rights masquerading as competition.” By the end of this week, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh is set to testify during the seven-week trial.
