US tech giant Apple is being targeted by a class action lawsuit seeking over $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,200 crore) in damages from developers angry about the high price it charges to market apps to users of its products, organisers said Tuesday.
The lawsuit was launched by competition professor Sean Ennis at the University of East Anglia on behalf of 1,500 British app developers.
“Apple has abused its dominant market position by charging an excessive ‘commission’ — typically 30 percent — on apps and in-app purchases of digital content,” said a statement released by the university.
Apple has faced scrutiny in the United States and Europe regarding its hold over its App Store and the inability of app developers to sell directly to the tech giant’s customers.
“Apple has a dominant position in the market for app distribution on iOS devices since the App Store is the only available channel for distributing apps to iOS device users,” Ennis said.
“The charges are unfair in their own right and constitute abusive pricing. They harm app developers and also app buyers,” said the statement.
The lawsuit is seeking 785 million pounds ($1.0 billion) in compensation for the British developers.
Apple, for its part, points out that developers can make offers to users via any web browser, without going through the App Store.
The California company also asserts that the majority of developers pay no commission to Apple, and insists that most applications are only subject to a 15 percent commission, thanks to exceptions for small businesses in particular.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
