A US appeals court on Monday upheld a federal court's order that could force Apple to change payment practices in its App Store.
Apple said it may appeal the decision. The US 9th Circuit
Court of Appeal upheld a 2021 order in an antitrust case brought by Fortnite
creator Epic Games that could require Apple to allow developers to provide
links and buttons for third-party in-app payment options and avoid paying sales
commissions to the iPhone maker.
Apple shares ended the day up slightly at $165.33. The
appeals court sided with Apple on nine other matters in the case, agreeing with
the trial court that Apple's App Store rules do not violate antitrust laws and
allowing its commissions of up 30 percent for in-app payments to stand.
"For the second time in two years, a federal court has
ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal
levels," Apple said in a statement. "We respectfully disagree with
the court's ruling on the one remaining claim under state law and are
considering further review."
Apple did not say whether it planned to appeal to a larger
group of judges on the 9th Circuit or to the US Supreme Court. The company has
14 days to file its appeal. The trial court's orders will remain paused while
any appeals unfold.
In a statement, Epic conceded that it lost on its antitrust
claims, but said the trial court order "frees iOS developers to send
consumers to the web to do business with them directly there. We're working on
next steps."
While Epic lost at trial on most of its allegations that
Apple violated antitrust laws, the trial judge did find that Apple violated
California's unfair competition laws by barring developers from telling users
about other ways to pay.
The trial court judge said Apple could no longer ban links
and buttons to third-party payment options. But unlike competition authorities
in several countries, the trial court judge gave no instructions on the manner
in which Apple must allow those links or buttons, leaving open the possibility
of future legal battles over how the changes must be made.
The appeals court said the trial court's order to Apple to
change its behaviour was appropriate because it would be too difficult to put a
price on the damages Apple's rule caused to Epic.
"The district court did not clearly err in finding that
Epic suffered an injury for which monetary damages would be inadequate,"
the 9th Circuit wrote on Monday.
Apple has been forced to open up its in-app payment systems
by competition authorities in other countries such as South Korea, the
Netherlands and Japan. © Reuters