Apple lost its challenge against a judicial reprimand for disobedience, but gained a new chance to discuss charging developers fees for transactions made outside the App Store.
In the long fight between Apple and Epic Games, a federal appeals court in the US rejected, this Thursday, the iPhone maker’s appeal against an April decision that concluded that the company deliberately disobeyed a court order. This original order found that Apple acted in an anti-competitive manner, violating California law.
On the other hand, in the 54-page decision, the 9th US Court of Appeals instructed judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to evaluate the possibility of allowing Apple to charge developers some commission for the use of their intellectual property – but not at the 27% value that the company had initially imposed.
“The trial court used brute force in banning all commissions, abusing its discretion,” said the three judges who ruled unanimously. “Apple is entitled to some compensation for the use of its intellectual property, which is essential for Epic and others to make linked purchases.”
So far, Apple has not commented on the decision.
The dispute between the companies has been going on for more than five years, since Epic, creator of the famous game Fortnite, accused Apple of illegally blocking competition in the App Store. In April, Judge Rogers ruled that Apple deliberately disregarded a 2021 order that allowed developers to point consumers to cheaper payment options outside of the store. Apple charges commissions ranging from 15% to 30% on most purchases made within apps, which has always generated complaints from developers.
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The App Store generates billions of dollars a year from commissions charged on developers’ digital sales. Apple does not separately disclose this revenue, but said it facilitated more than $400 billion in developer sales in 2024. According to analytics platform Appfigures, Apple earned around $10 billion in the US alone in 2024 from the App Store.
In the 2021 ruling, Judge Rogers sided in part with Apple, concluding that the App Store’s policies did not violate federal antitrust law. However, it ruled that the company broke California law and ordered Apple to allow developers to direct consumers to cheaper payment options outside of the store. This ruling was upheld by the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In response, Apple began allowing developers to direct users to the web to make payments, but imposed a new 27% commission on revenue generated this way. Epic accused Apple of flouting the 2021 ruling by charging this new fee, as well as imposing other restrictions on where and how links could be displayed.
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