The complaint, filed in May 2021, denounces a “30% surcharge imposed on applications purchased via the App Store”, recalls in a press release Rachael Kent, academic at King’s College London, who is bringing the case alongside the law firm. lawyer Hausfeld & Co.
The trial which opens Monday morning for seven weeks at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, on behalf of 20 million iPhone or iPad owners, will also highlight the fact that Apple excludes “any other store applications” on their devices.
The American company is accused of having deliberately ousted competition from its App Store in order to force users to use its system, generating comfortable profits in the process.
“The 30% increase concerns most applications” at the time of downloading but also during purchases on the application itself, explains Rachael Kent to AFP, citing the example of the dating platform Tinder.
On the other hand, it does not apply to applications offering physical products such as the delivery services Deliveroo or Uber Eats, specifies the academic.
Any user who purchased applications or subscriptions in the British version of the App Store between October 1, 2015 and November 15, 2024 may be entitled to compensation from Apple, she believes.
Under UK law, in this type of collective action, all potentially affected people are included in the proceedings by default (and may benefit from possible compensation) unless they voluntarily withdraw.
Contacted by AFP, Apple refers to a statement dating from 2022, in which it assures that 85% of applications on the App Store are free.
This procedure is “unfounded”, further asserts the company, for which the commissions invoiced on the App Store are in reality “very close to those invoiced by all other digital marketplaces”.
The company also believes that there is no evidence that the developers, to whom the commission is billed, would pass on a possible reduction and indicates that a large majority of them, particularly small businesses, benefit from a reduced rate of 15%.
Investigations and complaints have increased around the world against Apple in recent years, particularly over its app store.
The American giant is thus targeted by another procedure for 785 million pounds (936 million euros) in the United Kingdom over the prices charged to developers.
The European Commission, for its part, opened the way in June to a giant fine against the group, considering that the App Store did not respect its new competition rules.
To comply with the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), Apple has finally agreed to relax its rules, allowing – but only in the EU – users of its smartphones and tablets to delete the App Store or use a competing app store.
This shows that Apple is “responding to the investigations” against it but “I don’t think they will do it voluntarily, which is why it is really important to launch these collective actions”, affirms Rachael Kent.
