Apple loses landmark UK lawsuit over App Store commissions

A London tribunal has found that Apple has abused its position as a leader by charging app developers unfair commissions, putting the US tech company at risk of paying hundreds of millions of pounds in damages.

After the trial of the lawsuit, which was brought in the UK on behalf of millions of iPhone and iPad users, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld Apple’s ruling on Thursday.

From October 2015 to the end of 2020, Apple abused its position by preventing competition in the app distribution market and charging developers “excessive and unfair fees” as commission.

Apple announced it would file an appeal against the ruling, which it said “takes a flawed view of the flourishing and competitive app economy” and has been under increasing pressure from regulators in the US and Europe.

The case’s originators estimated that the case had cost about 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion). Apple’s request for appeal will be decided at a hearing the following month.

Following Apple’s complaint to European antitrust authorities over the terms and conditions of its App Store in response to rules intended to halt Big Tech, on Thursday’s ruling comes.

Exorbitant profits

By excluding all competition for app distribution and in-app purchases, Apple claimed to have made “exorbitant profits” according to British academic Rachael Kent, who brought up the case.

At the trial’s start in January, her attorneys claimed that Apple’s “100% monopoly position” made it able to impose stringent rules and excessive commissions on app developers, which Apple denied.

The CAT ruled that developers were overcharged because of the difference between the commission Apple charged, which Kent’s attorneys claimed was typically 30%, and a 17.5% commission for app purchases. Additionally, the CAT found that app developers had to pass on the overcharge to customers.

An Apple spokesman said, “This decision overlooks how the App Store helps developers succeed and gives consumers a secure, trusted place to find apps and make payments.”

Landmark mass lawsuit

The case marked the first large-scale class action lawsuit brought in by a tech company under Britain’s burgeoning class action system, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and has seen the trial of numerous multibillion-pound cases, but with limited success for consumers so far.

However, there are numerous other cases in the works, including one involving Google’s payment of app developers for Play Store access.

In addition to a similar claim filed by Epic Games, which is engaged in &nbsp, parallel litigation with Apple in the US, that case is scheduled to start in October 2026.

At the CAT, other tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft are also facing significant, sizeable, and expensive claims.