Apple Disputes Australian Court Finding of iOS App Store Monopoly in Epic Games Battle

[Plutonius]

I don't understand why people like too much Fortnite, like come on it's a bad game with guns, boring and everything bad...

Kids love it and I don't know any adults that play it.

 

[bLackjackj]

I don't understand why people like too much Fortnite, like come on it's a bad game with guns, boring and everything bad...

It's not about Fortnite, Epic are are looking at future releases. Fortnite is just a test case.

 

[Philip_S]

The courts there are basically saying “Apple has a monopoly because it controls iOS and iOS is its own market”. That's circular reasoning. While such reasoning might be legally tenable in Australia, are the judges making these rulings willing to apply that reasoning to all businesses? Do IGA or Woolworths have a monopoly on what they sell in their stores?

That’s not really an accurate analogy: it would be more like if Big W sold appliances and only Woolworths could sell compatible food: the market definition is “software compatible with iOS”.

Really though the best solution would be to say that anything that has the same effect as tying, including third-line tying, is illegal regardless of how you create the tie or what inducement is used to encourage other parties to enforce it.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Gee, I wonder why Apple didn't agree? Funny that every jurisdiction is independently coming to the same conclusion on Apple's strong-armed business practice yet "they're doing nothing wrong".

 

[AppliedMicro]

Said Apple last month: "Apple faces fierce competition in every market where we operate,"

👉 Oh yeah... where do they face fierce competition for sales smartphone apps (and in-app transactions)?

 

[Shirasaki]

Gee, I wonder why Apple didn't agree? Funny that every jurisdiction is independently coming to the same conclusion on Apple's strong-armed business practice yet "they're doing nothing wrong".

I bet there will be tons complaints crying the entire world is “rallied together to bring down Apple”. If only Apple could do something a bit differently based on the region they are operating in, rather than applying one rule that is only applicable to one country/region worldwide.

 

[surferfb]

Said Apple last month: "Apple faces fierce competition in every market where we operate,"

👉 Oh yeah... where do they face fierce competition for sales smartphone apps (and in-app transactions)?

The PlayStore. Apple competes head-to-head with Android for developer releases and consumer app spend.

Following your logic, then Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all face “no competition” because Xbox games don’t run on PS5 and Switch titles don’t run on Xbox, which is obviously ridiculous. Same thing here - users choose the platform first; distribution rules come with that choice.

If Meta pulled Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook from iOS over App Tracking Transparency or Netflix went Android-exclusive over anti-steering, are you seriously arguing significant numbers of users wouldn’t switch? Of course they would.

 

[mcled53]

Apple should charge $50M/year for Epics use of Xcode.

 

[rgeneral]

It's rated teen and most of her friends are already 13. She will be next month.

In other words, don't worry about it.

I hope you teach them to not buy any skins. Play for free.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Gee, I wonder why Apple didn't agree? Funny that every jurisdiction is independently coming to the same conclusion on Apple's strong-armed business practice yet "they're doing nothing wrong".

That doesn’t mean Apple is doing anything “wrong”. One jurisdiction can pass a law or make a regulation that makes a particular business practice “illegal” and start to fine companies breaking the new laws.

If that’s successful in one jurisdiction then others will likely follow as a way to either make some money from the company or force them to change their business practices to fit some perception of a better business model.

What the governments are doing might be what’s wrong.

Note that I’m not defending Apple, I’m just stating that just because multiple governments do something doesn’t make that the right thing to do.

 

[jecowa]

I don’t understand the logic in forcing Apple to allow third-party stores but not making the Nintendo Switch, Sony PS5, And Microsoft Xbox Series One X/Y do the same.

Outside of Usa, iPhone OS is not the most-popular phone with Android dominating. Meanwhile the Nintendo Switch has like half the console market share even though it has two other competitors.