Apple receiving lawsuits

Apple Receiving Lawsuits from Consumers and App Developers

Apple received lawsuit from a consumer for Apple’s app store pricing. The consumer stated that Apple does not allow all apps to be sold in App Store. In a comparison to the rivals like Google, Samsung, and Amazon, Apple offers a low amount of apps. Also, Apple users can only install apps which are already approved by Apple, unlike Android phones that can be installed apps which are not available in the PlayStore.

Not only the consumers, but the developers are also speak-out their difficulties with Apple. Gregg Spiridellis, along with his brother, are founders of JibJab, and they sold the company earlier this year. JibJab charges $2.99 monthly to the consumers. Spiridellis stated clearly that Apple is a ‘clear monopoly’.

Apple appearantly chargers app developers (such as JibJab) a 30% fee if they sell their app in Apple Store. How does Apple collect the payments? It is a must for every developer to pay a certain amount, as to what Spiridellis calls “the Apple tax.”

Recently, due to the 30% fee, Netflix has removed the ability to subscribe their services from the App store. Not only Netflix, Spotify also filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in Europe. Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, stated that Apple gave unfair advantages to the developer. This leads Apple to reply that Spotify wouldn’t be this big without Apple Store ecosystem.

On Monday May 13, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the lawsuit from both consumer and app developer. Although it is going to take a while to finalize the lawsuit, Apple is not in a good position because of their falling iPhone sales. Due to that, Apple is relying on the 30% fee from the app developers.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/05/14/what-if-apple-ios-store-had-lower-prices-more-competition/3667008002/