App Store dominance: Apple demands softer words from Chinese court
Apple recently won a monopoly lawsuit concerning the App Store in China. Nevertheless, the company would like to have the ruling changed.
Salesperson in an Apple store in Beijing.
(Image: dpa, Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa)
Apple is at loggerheads with regulatory authorities, app providers and lawyers around the world when it comes to accusations of App Store dominance. An unusual case has now arisen in China, in which Apple was able to successfully defend itself against accusations of monopoly, but the court still found rather harsh words in its decision. However, according to Apple's lawyers, these should now be deleted, reports the financial news agency Bloomberg. Apple has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the People's Republic.
Dispute over sentences and individual words
The case involved a complaint by an Apple customer who wanted a court in Shanghai to determine that the fees that App Store developers have to pay to Apple are an illegal exploitation of its dominant position. The Supreme Court had previously allowed such lawsuits to be filed against Apple. In addition to the App Store commission, the lawsuit also concerned Apple's proprietary payment service, Apple Pay, which the plaintiff felt compelled to use. Both points were rejected as null and void by the responsible Shanghai Intellectual Property Court – this already happened in May.
However, Apple takes issue with the wording of the ruling. It contains references to Apple's "dominant position". According to the Apple lawyers, there is no evidence of this. In addition, another sentence is to be deleted: The one that "unfair prices could harm customers". It is not yet clear whether the Supreme Court will implement the changes; Apple has so far only submitted a corresponding application. Apparently, the company is concerned with not getting into trouble with the regulators in China as well, so this is also a prophylactic measure. There are apparently fears that the ruling could also be cited in other cases.
Apple in a Chinese dilemma
In China, however, developers of popular Android games sometimes have to pay 50 percent of their revenue to app marketplace operators. Apple normally takes 15 and 30 percent respectively. China is of key importance to Apple. On the one hand, the country is still the one in which most Apple products are produced. Secondly, it is one of the most important foreign markets, meanwhile even the second most important market behind the USA.
Apple has recently been able to regain some market share thanks to discount campaigns. However, local providers such as Huawei are catching up strongly. The Chinese government also wants its employees to only buy local products.
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