“There’s a lot of evidence in this trial that in the fore-market of devices, it’s Apple’s business strategy to create a particular kind of ecosystem that is attractive to purchasers,” Judge Rogers said.Īnother focus of today’s closing session was anti-steering. One of the points Judge Rogers repeatedly mentioned during today’s trial was that customers have the ability to choose which ecosystem they use, referring to Android vs. Judge Rogers asked both sides a variety of questions about the past three weeks of testimony. In lieu of traditional closing arguments, today’s final day of the trial consisted of three hours of back-and-forth between Judge Rogers and lawyers for Apple and Epic. Now, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will retreat and analyze the testimony to make a ruling in the case sometime over the coming months. In addition to company executives, dueling economists will be called by each side to testify about market issues related to the case.After just over three weeks of testimony, evidence, debating over what the definition of a “game” is, and more, the Epic vs. The most anticipated testimony is expected to be from Apple CEO Tim Cook, but an exact date for Cook's testimony has not yet been set. The trial is set to stretch on for three weeks. "Our goal was to demonstrate to smartphone owners that removing the platform fees would result in savings for them," Sweeney said.Ĭross-examination of Sweeney will continue Tuesday. On Monday, Apple lawyer Doren asked Sweeney if the whole thing was a public relations stunt with the real aim of cutting costs for Epic at the expense of Apple's reputation. When Apple refused, Sweeney sued Apple, published a video parodying an old Apple advertisement and urged Fortnite gamers to rally around the #FreeFortnite hashtag.Įpic officials dubbed the campaign "Project Liberty." "Yes," Sweeney replied, noting that he knew Apple kicking Fortnite out of the app store was a possibility, yet he hoped it would make Apple "seriously reconsider its policy." "In August 2020, you as the shot caller at Epic chose to intentionally breach your contract with Apple?" Doren asked Sweeney. Lawmakers in Washington held a hearing last month focused on the power of tech giant app stores. Where else has Apple's App Store come under fire? The judge addressed lawyers on Monday from a bench surrounded by plexiglass. An audio livestream of the proceedings is publicly available, but there are strict limitations on who is allowed into the trial because of pandemic-related health concerns. The trial is taking place in a mostly empty federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif. The 30% cut is necessary, according to Apple, to safeguard the privacy and safety of apps on Apple devices.Įpic estimates Apple's profit from its App Store's fees is nearly 80% - a stunning figure that Apple calls "simply wrong." Analysts say sales in this segment are especially important, considering how iPhone sales peaked years ago. The money made from the commission is an important and growing revenue stream for Apple, part of the fees and subscriptions that generated $54 billion in the last fiscal year. The court battle represents the most high-profile antitrust trial in the technology world in decades and also marks the most threatening legal case against Apple in years.Įpic accuses Apple of running its App Store as an illegal monopoly because it only allows in-app purchases on iPhones to be processed by Apple's own payment system on its more than 1 billion iPhones around the world - and it typically tacks on a 30% commission on every purchase.Įpic says that fee, which critics call "the Apple tax," is applied unfairly and falls heavily on smaller app developers, who then are at a disadvantage trying to compete with Apple's own apps that avoid the fee. If Epic wins, Apple, a $2 trillion company, could be forced to reshape the policies of its highly lucrative app store, which has been the target of growing pressure from Washington and the European Union. The lawsuit that prompted the trial is about one app developer, Epic, a $29 billion company based in Cary, N.C., but the outcome could have far-reaching consequences for companies in Silicon Valley and the future of how money moves on smartphones and other devices. Epic Games, creator of the popular game Fortnite, accuses Apple of running its App Store as an illegal monopoly because it only allows in-app purchases on iPhones to be processed by Apple's own payment system.Īndrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty ImagesĮpic Games, the maker of the hit video game Fortnite, brought Apple to federal court Monday for the start of what is expected to be a weeks-long blockbuster trial centered on Apple's iron grip of a major slice of the mobile economy.
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