By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 23rd, 2024
In its defense, Apple noted that its actions have been and are justified to protect its customers from bad actors.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) top executive Michael Schmid, who is the head of App Store business development for gaming, testified in a federal court in Oakland, California during the third week of an antitrust trial against Epic Games. According to Schmid, Apple collected over $100 million from Epic Games’ Fortnite during the two years that the game was online.
The Fortnite hitmaker Epic Games Inc filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of overly controlling, opportunistic and unfair approaches through its set policies, particularly in the App Store.
After Schmid was questioned if the company collected $200 million and above from Epic Games, he declined to specify citing it would be inappropriate to share the information. Notably, a study by Sensor Tower, a mobile-app market data firm, Apple collected over $354 million from Epic Games during the two years.
“The App Store has accounted for the majority of this revenue, with the game’s player spending more than $1 billion on Apple’s marketplace. The United States has generated the most revenue for Fortnite on mobile, accounting for $632.2 million, or approximately 63 percent of total spend. Great Britain ranked No. 2 with $38.2 million, or 3.8 percent, while Switzerland ranked No. 3 with $36.3 million, or 3.6 percent,” the report indicated.
In its defense, Apple through its top executives who have testified during the ongoing lawsuit trial noted that its actions have been and are justified to protect its customers from bad actors. Application developers seeking to tap the Apple market are forced to use the company’s App Store that only accepts its in-app payment option.
Apple and Epic Games Lawsuit
Apple delisted Fortnite after the application updated its system to offer its in-app payment system different from Apple’s. The difference has spilled over from personal issues to a social and ethical question.
Is Apple justified to lock developers out in the name of protecting user privacy through its App Store? Or is Epic Games’ argument, the field should be leveled and decentralized, an eye-opening perspective for the global tech industry.
During the lawsuit trials, Apple’s layers cited a public letter that was written by the company’s co-founder Steve Jobs in respect to the security aspect. “As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target,” the letter reads.
Apple has used the stern App Store policies as a market strategy that has attracted and kept most of its global customers. Apple stock closed Wednesday trading at $124.69, down 0.13% from the day’s opening price.