Apple Can't Escape Dutch App Store Antitrust Lawsuit, EU Court Rules

[MacRumors]

Apple is not going to be able to escape a class-action antitrust lawsuit over anticompetitive App Store fees in the Netherlands, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said today. The decision could see Apple facing millions of euros in damages, and it sets a precedent for similar lawsuits in other European countries (via Reuters).

Apple could ultimately have to pay up to an estimated 637 million euros to address the damage suffered by 14 million iPhone and iPad users in the Netherlands.

The lawsuit dates back to 2022, when two Dutch consumer foundations (Right to Consumer Justice and App Store Claims) accused Apple of abusing its dominant market position and charging developers excessive fees. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Dutch iPhone and iPad users, and it claimed that Apple's 30 percent commission inflated prices for apps and in-app purchases.

Apple argued that the Dutch court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case because the EU App Store is run from Ireland, and therefore the claims should be litigated in Ireland. Apple said that if the Dutch court was able to hear the case, it could lead to fragmentation with multiple similar cases across the EU, plus it argued that customers in the Netherlands could have downloaded apps while in other EU member states.

The District Court of Amsterdam ended up asking the CJEU if it had the jurisdiction to hear the case, and the CJEU said yes. The court decided that the App Store in question was designed for the Dutch market, and it offers Dutch apps for sale to people with an Apple ID associated with the Netherlands, giving Dutch courts jurisdiction.

Apple told Reuters that it disagrees with the court's ruling, and that it will continue to vigorously defend itself. The District Court of Amsterdam expects to hear the case toward the end of the first quarter of 2026.

The civil App Store fee case that Apple is now facing in the Netherlands is separate from the dating app case that was levied against Apple by ACM, the Dutch competition authority. That case involved regulatory action that led to new alternative purchase options for Dutch dating apps. Apple has also been fighting that antitrust case, and racked up fines of 50 million euros.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Can't Escape Dutch App Store Antitrust Lawsuit, EU Court Rules

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Apple argued that the Dutch court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case because the EU App Store is run from Ireland

Haha, what a lame excuse! Nice try.

 

[germanbeer007]

remember that time Tim Sweeney praised the App Store saying indie developers can "flourish" thanks to the App Store?

pepperidge farm remembers.

 

[crees!]

Just pull out

 

[Lyrics23]

I wish Apple would just cooperate sometimes. They always seem to be on the wrong side of things, these last few years.

 

[robfoll]

I find these lawsuits absolutely astonishing. I was an iOS developer for a number of years, and I always thought that 30% was actually very good value for delivering tiny developers, global distribution, global marketing, and a global finance payment operation. Just seems to be crazy EU politicians using Apple for clickbait basically.

 

[justanotherdave]

So the DMA extracting huge fines from Apple over basically the same thing isn’t enough so now individual member countries in the EU also want their piece of the pie as well?

 

[jlc1978]

I find these lawsuits absolutely astonishing. I was an iOS developer for a number of years, and I always thought that 30% was actually very good value for delivering tiny developers, global distribution, global marketing, and a global finance payment operation. Just seems to be crazy EU politicians using Apple for clickbait basically.

Not to mention for true small developers it's 15%; even the big guys go to 15% on subscriptions after the first year. At some point, Apple will have to change its pricing model and start charging for hosting, d/ls, currency exchange, payment processing, etc. separately. "A million d/ls?, That'll be Y. Sorry you only got a handful of sales." "Oh, you want world wide distribution? That'll be X" Of course, if they do and charge less for say, payments, then the payment processors will scream "unfair."

 

[DocMultimedia]

It's easy to see that every Dutch person needs 45 million euros since they got so damaged. Good lord.

 

[justanotherdave]

I find these lawsuits absolutely astonishing. I was an iOS developer for a number of years, and I always thought that 30% was actually very good value for delivering tiny developers, global distribution, global marketing, and a global finance payment operation. Just seems to be crazy EU politicians using Apple for clickbait basically.

Which is why I believe none of the people advocating for the DMA or forcing Apple to open The App Store are developers. Or if they are they’ve only been developing for a few years and have no idea how things worked before when you’d be lucky enough to keep 30% for yourself.

When The App Store launched initially at 30% fees developers were ecstatic. It was a great deal compared to previous distribution methods.

 

[whatnot]

It's easy to see that every Dutch person needs 45 million euros since they got so damaged. Good lord.

good lord, it's trillion, 637 million euros divided by 14 million is 45 trillion for each Dutch person 😂

 

[contacos]

good lord, it's trillion, 637 million euros divided by 14 million is 45 trillion for each Dutch person 😂

Your math ain't mathing

 

[Glideslope]

Well, just as I was getting ready to make stroopwafel this comes across the wire.

 

[Bokito]

I didn't and don't join these claims as the claim organisations are not transparant about their finances. It's unknown who is paying for the claims legal bill upfront and how much they get afterwards. If they fail to get the "costs" from Apple they take (up to) 25%. In The Netherlands we always called that "American practices", but I guess we are at the same level now.

I still stand by my earlier comments on European court cases versus Apple that they should really hire more skillful lawyers who fully understand national and EU law. Right now it seems their Cupertino legal office is trying things that may work in the USA, but EU laws are quite different and judges look different to cases. This action makes Apple look naive and stupid, but I guess they either don't care or don't want to know.

 

[mansplains]

So… Apple’s in Dutch, with the Dutch, over some double Dutch?

 

[whatnot]

Your math ain't mathing

oh yeah, another one taking it for the team.

every Dutch person needs 45 million euros

go read the numbers quoted again, and explain where '45 million' came from, genius.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I didn't and don't join these claims as the claim organisations are not transparant about their finances. It's unknown who is paying for the claims legal bill upfront and how much they get afterwards. If they fail to get the "costs" from Apple they take (up to) 25%. In The Netherlands we always called that "American practices", but I guess we are at the same level now.

I still stand by my earlier comments on European court cases versus Apple that they should really hire more skillful lawyers who fully understand national and EU law. Right now it seems their Cupertino legal office is trying things that may work in the USA, but EU laws are quite different and judges look different to cases. This action makes Apple look naive and stupid, but I guess they either don't care or don't want to know.

It IS just 637 million Euros. A lot of money, yeah, but not something that’s going to bankrupt them. Plus, the EU laws are very specifically written against non-EU companies, so there’s no skill of lawyer that would help in that kind of situation. Send in the second string and let them get some game time.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Which is why I believe none of the people advocating for the DMA or forcing Apple to open The App Store are developers. Or if they are they’ve only been developing for a few years and have no idea how things worked before when you’d be lucky enough to keep 30% for yourself.

When The App Store launched initially at 30% fees developers were ecstatic. It was a great deal compared to previous distribution methods.

And, don’t forget, practically no one is paying 30% unless they really, really, want to. For years now. (Most developers will never see $1,000,000 in a calendar year in their lifetimes. If they ever do, and, somehow, can’t figure out how to live and run a business on $700,000 a year? Well, that’s a whole other problem!)

 

[Unregistered 4U]

So the DMA extracting huge fines from Apple over basically the same thing isn’t enough so now individual member countries in the EU also want their piece of the pie as well?

Denmark brought us Vestager, so I’m not surprised in the least that they’re behind this. I mean, without a serious player in tech (where all the money’s being made now), this is all they have to bring in the kinds of revenues parts of the rest of the world are enjoying.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I wish Apple would just cooperate sometimes. They always seem to be on the wrong side of things, these last few years.

That’s because they’re on the wrong side of “Governments wanting more money out of Apple”. There’s no way they could ever be on the right side of that! And, as governments have the power to create laws that specifically target Apple, they can’t be on the right side of “The thing we just created that defines your starting position as ‘on the wrong side of it’.”

 

[Lyrics23]

That’s because they’re on the wrong side of “Governments wanting more money out of Apple”. There’s no way they could ever be on the right side of that! And, as governments have the power to create laws that specifically target Apple, they can’t be on the right side of “The thing we just created that defines your starting position as ‘on the wrong side of it’.”

Yeah, sorry but that argument never held any merit.

The amount Apple is fined is absolutely tiny compared to the country’s budgets, it just makes no sense.

Much simpler to accept reality and realise that maybe, just maybe, that the reason multiple governments are regulating big-tech companies in similar ways is because those companies are just in dire need of regulating.

 

[edvj]

Denmark brought us Vestager, so I’m not surprised in the least that they’re behind this. I mean, without a serious player in tech (where all the money’s being made now), this is all they have to bring in the kinds of revenues parts of the rest of the world are enjoying.

Margrethe Vestager is danish,not dutch.

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[63W]

Good! Fingers crossed Apple loses law suits on all European countries.

 

[code-m]

Wouldn’t this be considered double jeopardy of sorts if the EU already sued and now each of its member nations can also sue.

 

[dredlew]

It's easy to see that every Dutch person needs 45 million euros since they got so damaged. Good lord.

As we’ve seen in recent outcomes of these fee adjustments, the prices for users stay the same. The savings go directly into the developer’s pockets.

This has never been about user’s saving money, but all these lawsuits claim that’s their basis.