In speaking to Bloomberg (via MacRumors), the foundation gets a little more specific. It says that it could net as much as 5.5 billion euros in damages for consumers who purchased apps or made in-app purchases using iPhones or iPads. Of course, that’s assuming that the lawsuit is successful, as the Consumer Competition Claims Foundations seems to still be in the phase where it’s recruiting people for the class-action lawsuit.
It sounds like the foundation is mostly focused on the commission Apple takes on each sale facilitated by the App Store. For most, that commission is 30%, which the foundation argues then causes developers to hike prices. While Apple has adopted some flexibility in the cut it takes – in 2020 it changed the commission to 15% for small-scale businesses and developers that make less than $1 million annually – developers selling apps and in-app purchases through the App Store are still subject to some kind of commission.
Apple’s cut on App Store sales has drawn it plenty of criticism here on the other side of the Atlantic, as Epic and Apple are currently engaged in a lengthy legal battle over those fees and the inability for App Store developers to advertise other, external payment methods . While the initial lawsuit didn’t go Epic’s way in most regards, the company is currently going through the appeals process.
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