(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. believed there was a “significant” risk it would fail to comply with a court order to allow mobile app developers to steer customers to payment methods outside the company’s App Store when it added a new commission for those purchases, a senior company executive testified.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Philip Schiller, a long-time executive who helped develop the App Store, told US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers Monday he was “concerned” she would find that the new fee didn’t fulfill her 2021 directive that the iPhone maker expand payment options for consumers.
Apple is still fighting with Epic Games Inc. four and a half years after the maker of the popular Fortnite video game accused the technology giant of violating antitrust law by charging exorbitant fees at the App Store. After a trial Rogers concluded in 2021 that Apple hadn’t run afoul of federal laws, but she found that its policies prevent consumers from getting cheaper prices and ordered changes.
Epic contends Apple still hasn’t complied with her order, more than a year after the company exhausted appeals all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Early last year, Apple lowered the commission on some in-app payments from 30% to 27%. But app developers must pay separate payment processing charges that push their costs past 30%.
‘Compliance Risk’
Was there “significant compliance risk because of the proximity to the 30% commission?” Gary Bornstein, a lawyer for Epic, asked Schiller in federal court in Oakland, California. “Yes,” Schiller replied.
Schiller testified last year that Apple believed it was complying with the judge’s 2021 order. “We are trying to enable what the law requires,” Schiller said in May.
Schiller said there were multiple people involved in the process, including Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. He also said that he was concerned the commissions would create a more “antagonistic” relationship between the company and app developers.
An Apple spokesperson said that expressions of concern about charging a commission don’t indicate a lack of compliance.
At a hearing last year, Rogers voiced skepticism about the changes Apple made. “All this does is maintain the non-competitive environment that exists,” she said to Schiller at the time.
The dispute comes against the backdrop of law enforcement and regulatory action in the US and Europe. The Justice Department is suing Apple over a number of policies the government says is designed to give it monopoly power over the wide array of companies that rely on the iPhone to reach consumers.
Apple is also the target of multiple antitrust actions in the European Union and could be the first company to face a fine over a lack of compliance with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. The company was also hit with a €1.8 billion ($1.88 billion) fine last year for abuses under the bloc’s traditional competition rules — involving music streaming.
–With assistance from Mark Gurman.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
