Deepali Kalia
Apple CEO Tim cook will be taking the witness stand in defense of his company’s app store against the charges that it has developed into an illegal monopoly in an antitrust case brought by the makers of the popular video game Fortnite, Epic Games.
Epic states that the apple store- “ a walled garden for Iphone and Ipad apps” reaps a 15% to 30% commission from in app transactions and blocks apps from providing other payment alternatives.
Apple however, states that the commissions are a fair way for the app makers to help cover cost for security controls and innovations which would benefit the users and the app developers including Epic.
The multinational company further states that it has invested more than 100 billion dollars in such features. Epic however contends that in order to preserve huge profits from the store Apple is using investments in privacy and security as an excuse.
Apple also states that the store commissions are the same as the fees charged by other major video game consoles such as Sony’s Play Station, Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Switch and also by app store run by Google.
However, the company’s unwavering control over its app is also under investigation by lawmakers in the US and Europe.
The main point of dispute over the three week trial has been with regards to the profits made by the app store and an accounting expert hired by Epic had after reviewing the confidential Apple documents estimated the profit margins ranging from 70 % to 80%.
Apple however insisted that the estimation doesn’t reflect the expenditure made by the company for its operation.
Last week, Phil Schillar, long time executive of Apple was grilled by Epic’s Lawyers and had conceded that Company’s commission had earned the company more than 20 billion dollars in revenue.