The US Supreme Court has ruled that people can sue Apple for forcing them to buy apps exclusively on its app store, the Wall Street Journal reported. The antitrust suit claims that apps could be cheaper if software developers could sell them directly and not have to use Apple’s app store, where prices are inflated by Apple's service fees.
The Supreme Court’s decision only said consumers had a a right to sue Apple over these practices. It did not address the merits of the plaintiff’s claims. The court rejected Apple’s arguments that consumers can’t sue because it is the app developers, not the company, that set app prices. The case could take up to two years to resolve.
An Apple spokeswoman said the company is confident it will prevail in the lawsuit. “The App Store is not a monopoly by any metric,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the company marketplace was “the safest, most secure and trusted platform for customers.”
Apple vets all apps and software sold via its store and prohibits third-party app stores on its devices; this has resulted in less malware for people on the iOS operating system, but also a more controlled system financially. Apple usually takes a 30 percent cut from every app it sells, and a 15 percent share of subscriptions sold through the app store, after a subscriber’s first year.
The consumer lawsuit also noted other App Store rules that affect pricing, such as Apple’s requirement that every app price point end in “99 cents,” meaning developers can only set prices in one-dollar increments like USD 1.99, USD 2.99 and so forth.
