From 9to5Mac’s “Apple and Epic go head-to-head in fiery opening remarks of highly-anticipated trial” posted Monday:
Epic’s argument is that Apple touts its app review process as a key benefit of the App Store ecosystem when, in actuality, the process fails to catch hundreds of thousands of scam and phishing apps each year. The company specifically points a figure from 2017, when Apple said it removed more than 400,000 apps from the App Store…
At the heart of Epic’s argument is the 30% cut of transactions that Apple takes, but Apple said that this is standard industry practice and that Apple’s effective cut from the App Store has decreased over the years. Apple argued that if Epic prevails in this case, “other integrated ecosystems will fall too,” including Sony, Nintendo, Google, and Samsung.
My take: The two side’s opening slideshows tell the story more succinctly than the lawyers can. Thanks to 9to5Mac for downloading them.
The points about the App Store can be turned around by Apple, to show just how critical a curated store is. The fact that Apple hasn’t been fully successful is, I believe, fundamentally irrelevant to the -legal arguments-.
Epic’s legal case looks pretty weak, frankly, particularly for a “bet the entire company” action.
Apple can make the case of public safety in the latter venue. Most people glaze over when you get into numbers and legalities.
It appears their greed blinds them to their actual foes.
Epic’s case rests on sand. If they prevail, all other game platforms, including Steam, would be subject to the court’s decision.
(Thank you for consolidating and sharing those slideshows, Philip.)
– Epic only has to pay commission on IAP’s if they are on the App Store.
– The App Store market share is small.
– Users can do IAP’s on multiple platforms and use funds cross platform thereby bypassing commission.
– They could create an iOS web app.
– Forcing Apple to open would have to force all walled gardens to open up.
– The security implications are harmful to consumers and only beneficial to Epic.
– There’s no guarantee that consumers would save money. Are they always going to charge 30% less or maybe they will try to keep that 30% for themselves….
The whole game console being sold at cost, vs Apple making a profit argument also sounds like a non-starter, since they’d then have to subpoena the financial details of every game console maker to prove that they sell at cost. Is it Apple’s fault that they have good margins because they create economies of scale?