What’s at Stake in the Apple vs. Epic Battle

Epic’s quest to remake Apple’s App Store business model is now in court

Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

Apple’s 13-year-old App Store (and its slightly younger in-app purchases and commission system) is facing its biggest test, not with consumers but in a trial that kicked off Monday in Oakland, California.

At stake is the 30% revenue cut Apple takes on every app and in-app purchase. Fortnite maker Epic didn’t like it and, last summer, it launched a carefully calibrated campaign (breaking Apple’s rules on direct purchases, teasing Apple about it in a “1984-style” ad, and suing them) to upend it and bring the entire issue to court.

I couldn’t be there (nor could most of the witnesses who, thanks to the ongoing pandemic, video-conferenced in), but followed some of the live tweets of the Day 1 testimony. They painted a clear picture of Epic’s strategy and Apple’s well-worn defense. Here are some key takeaways:

So much the same

Epic rightly pointed out that iOS and macOS share the same core technology and Apple’s decision to keep macOS open to app downloads outside their store but iOS closed to all but the App Store is about policy, not technology.