Epic v. Apple Court Case Begins

Today, one of the most-watched PR and legal brouhahas in the tech world kicks off in court, “arguably the biggest courtroom showdown Apple has engaged in since its smartphone patent war with Samsung nearly a decade ago,” Protocol writes.

Fortnite parent Epic Games is suing Apple on antitrust grounds. Both Tims will take the stand (i.e., CEOs Tim Sweeney and Tim Cook). 🍿🍿🍿

FAQs

• Who wins? Smart money’s on Apple. Epic blatantly and openly violated App Store rules by building payment rails into its app as a workaround to the App Store’s 30% cut of in-app purchases.
• But is that policy fair? Epic will say this cut of all digital goods and services sold via iOS apps is too high of a take rate. Especially since services like Apple Music—distributed via the very same marketplace—don’t have to pay.
• Apple’s likely response? The 30% tithe pays for App Store maintenance. And you won’t find the same level of security on, say, the Google Play store or side-loaded apps on Android.
• Who else would like a word? Spotify, Match Group, Facebook, and Microsoft, among others, have voiced support for Epic in one way or another. Just one week ago at a Senate Judiciary Antitrust subcommittee hearing, senators grilled Apple for the “tax” on revenues flowing through the App Store.

Live look: Now we head over to Google, which rounds out the so-called app store duopoly. Google right now:

—RD