Apple Wins Stay in Epic Case, Won't Have to Implement App Store Changes Tomorrow

[Cosmosent]

Why do you (or whomever "we believe" refers to) think Apple's commission for IAP made using other payment methods will only be 10% (as compared to 30%)? I would expect that commission to be much higher - something like 20 to 25%, possibly even closer to 30%. That is to say, I think it would be higher than 10% unless some change was made to federal law which abrogated intellectual property rights in a way that limited what Apple and similarly situated others could charge for the use of their intellectual property. I haven't thus far seen where such a change has been proposed.

In-large-part because Google is ahead the curve here, & they decided to go with 11%.

That happened ONLY 1-2 months ago.

If Apple, OR Google, decides to go much higher, the "Trust Busting" efforts will never stop !

That's the main reason I believe they "can't & won't" go higher.

Also, look how fast Tim Cook is aging right now !

You think he wants another few years of this ?

 

[Gix1k]

So are we getting Fortnite back or not!?

 

[I7guy]

In-large-part because Google is ahead the curve here, & they decided to go with 11%.

That happened ONLY 1-2 months ago.

If Apple, OR Google, decides to go much higher, the "Trust Busting" efforts will never stop !

That's the main reason I believe they "can't & won't" go higher.

Do you believe Apple is obligated to follow google's fee structure?

Also, look how fast Tim Cook is aging right now !

You think he wants another few years of this ?

Interesting, above is comment on the topic, below is about Tim. Think the man is going strong. Winning these lawsuits, record breaking quarters keeps him fit and young.

 

[visualseed]

Plenty of subscription services up their cost by 30% if you go through the app. This would be direct benefit to the customers.

AppStore prices are market rates. Also not a single developer has cut their app or subscription prices by %15 when Apple lowered their commissions.

 

[jonblatho]

AppStore prices are market rates. Also not a single developer has cut their app or subscription prices by %15 when Apple lowered their commissions.

That’s quite a lofty claim, that exactly zero developers lowered their prices as a result of the fee change. Do you have evidence to reflect that?

 

[lazyrighteye]

Good. This case was joke from the jump and never should have progressed this far.
The monopoly angle is beyond exhausting. If you don't like what Apple offers, if you don't like their rules, if you don't like their CEO, listen carefully - YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE THEM! You have options - lots of them! Go enjoy them. Any of them. And if you don't like any of those options, then build your own. But asking daddy (the courts) to make others play with you is lame, embarrassing and, in the end, ineffective.

 

[Barabas]

People who think they would pay less without Apple's IAP through alternative payment options have clearly not read the ruling. Apple would still be entitled to 15-30% no matter what. The developers would just have to account for that separately and pay it directly to Apple.

 

[visualseed]

That’s quite a lofty claim, that exactly zero developers lowered their prices as a result of the fee change. Do you have evidence to reflect that?

Do you have any evidence to dispute it?

 

[SurferPup]

I hope Epic Fail is haemorrhaging from their futile actions and depose Tim Sweeney in an effort to save corporate face then retract all his stubborn stupid actions. While Epic Fail wastes money and negative energy  continues to create exciting technology and provide a viable software store. Xbox releases Halo Infinity and Sony's PlayStation 5 owners delight in this brilliant gaming console.

 

[jonblatho]

Do you have any evidence to dispute it?

I think it’s a lot more reasonable to assume that at least one out of thousands of paid app developers opted to lower their prices.

 

[I7guy]

I think it’s a lot more reasonable to assume that at least one out of thousands of paid app developers opted to lower their prices.

While the OP was written as a fact and not opinion, I believe it's reasonable to assume that every developer wants as much money as possible and therefore no dev has lowered their prices. Of course all of this is pure conjecture that probably is extremely difficult to prove one way or another.

 

[Maximara]

Congress has higher priorities like fixing all the problems in the VA; taking care of those who have serve to protect this country.

Right. Heck, my brother who was in the military 20 years had to finally write to his congressman for the VA to stop jerking him around on his 200% disability. That nonsense lasted a decade IIRC.

 

[Maximara]

The court system is a joke. Don't like the decision in a lower court, appeal it in the next higher court. On and on, back and forth until you get to the Supreme Court. What's the point of wasting time in all the lower courts when judges seem to constantly disagree with the court decision below them? Politics playing a role in these decisions, possibly?

There are called safeguards and they exist because mistakes are made. Go read up on some criminal cases where the person was on death row and thanks to the length of the appeal process was proven to be innocent some time.

 

[Maximara]

In-large-part because Google is ahead the curve here, & they decided to go with 11%.

Actually "Google doesn't plan to let developers circumvent their service fees; rather, they will discount their typical 15% fee by 4%." As an accountant I can tell you that is going to be such a royal pain to keep tract of on the developer side.

 

[djphat2000]

Still have a feeling this is going to SCOTUS with all the appeals going on.

This will ultimately depend on EPIC and the next ruling in this appeal. If EPIC loses again, they may not want to invest anymore capital in lawyers/trials/etc. With no realistic chance of winning, and possibly insuring they can't ever inflict the changes they want.

 

[Maximara]

Oh come on.... that is a poor straw man. A company at least has a reason to do 30% now, you think they would just charge more on iOS just because? Not a reasonable guess by any means.

What straw man? I am using a little thing called logic. It is very rare that such benefits are passed on to the consumer.

 

[Maximara]

This will ultimately depend on EPIC and the next ruling in this appeal. If EPIC loses again, they may not want to invest anymore capital in lawyers/trials/etc. With no realistic chance of winning, and possibly insuring they can't ever inflict the changes they want.

IMHO thanks to their hype happy CEO Epic is in this too far to back out. If they concede they will basically admit they didn't have a case to begin with.

 

[LuckyBubba]

Must have presented a good argument to question this part of the lower courts decision.

Gotta ask what's unfair competition - Does Best Buy limit the number of computer games in their store? Apple everyone's games if they want it played on an apple device. This is just a small example - as for payment, as far as I know Best Buy makes a pretty good chunk of change for selling software off their shelves as does Amazon. I believe the argument is an easy one for the lawyers who deal in this type of thing.
I've worked in a family business and by Epic Games standards, we always displayed unfair competition practices.

 

[djphat2000]

Good, time for congress to sweep in and install new marketplace rules that are worse for Apple than just complying with allowing that link. Its going to happen eventually, Apple should have settled for the lowest impact option and look like they were cooperating.

And what exactly would those rules be? They can't set pricing. So that's out of the question.
They couldn't force Apple to allow another store option on the platform. Apple's answer to that is simple. Pick Android or the developers could create web apps and do as they wish that way, totally bypassing the store. Just like it was originally intended.

If Apple can't make a developer develop for iOS/MacOS etc. You can't make Apple "work" with anyone that wants to put another store on the device. If you can't force a physical store to allow another store inside rent/commission/fee free, you can't do it here either.

 

[PC_tech]

I’m starting to think most people in this forum work at apple…

There are certain ones that definitely are suspicious.

 

[PC_tech]

Apple and Cook are so pathetic. Epic has many issues, but these clowns just don’t want money flowing around an ecosystem unless they control it. Clowns.

Ironic ?

 

[PC_tech]

Laughable. As everyone who's been paying attention already read a dozen times by now, Judge Rogers' original ruling was that ruling Apple had *not* been shown to be a monopolist. The injunction Apple was seeking had nothing to do with that. Rather, it had to do with a separate ruling that "Apple is engaging in anticompetitive conduct under California's competition laws." Which it may or may not have been. Apple was appealing her ruling, but she wanted it implemented immediately ragardless, prior to any higher court had a chance to strike it down.

Anyone who is paying attention will notice she never said Apple wasn’t a monopoly and she wasn’t going to make that determination ?

 

[svish]

Excellent news for Apple. Epic wont be back for a long long time.

 

[BootsWalking]

This consumer is thrilled. Having one place to manage my payment options, is massively superior to having to manage it separately for each app and service. Not to mention easy subscription cancellation. It’s way better than what Epic is trying to get to happen.

What leads you to believe you still won't have the ability to access your payment options in one place? That's why it would be called an "option".

 

[I7guy]

Anyone who is paying attention will notice she never said Apple wasn’t a monopoly and she wasn’t going to make that determination ?

Correct. Gonzales said the App Store's overall structure is legal, and she also said Apple does not have an illegal monopoly over how developers can process payments for mobile games.