INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
This antitrust story is years in the making: back in 2011, a group of plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the
tech company of monopolizing the market for iOS apps by not allowing users to download them from any source outside the official App
Store.According to the plaintiffs, this not only reduces customer choice for iPhone and iPad users, but also leads to inflated pricing
mistakes made in the original complaint, a US Court of Appeals gave the go-ahead for the proceedings to being in 2017.Apple then filed a
petition (writ of certiori) to have a higher court review the case, which the US Supreme Court has now agreed to take on.Brick the
purchase goods from them.As far as Apple is concerned, consumers are purchasing directly from the devs and its App Store is only a platform
that charges a commission to the developers, much like a mall charges rent for retail space.The plaintiffs, however, argue that the case is
about Apple monopolizing app distribution and has nothing to do with the apps themselves
While iOS users are stuck with only the App Store, Android users are able to download apps from not just the Google Play Store but from
third parties like Amazon as well.Decisions have consequencesIf the Supreme Court rules in favor of Apple, the App Store will continue to be
the go-to platform for iOS apps and not much will have changed.However, if Apple loses the case, it could have far-reaching consequences not
misleading customers about their repair rights.Secondly, a loss for Apple could lead to significant changes to the business model of other
companies like Amazon, which also sells products from third parties, making it harder for the online retailer to portray itself as just a
marketplace, or a middleman.Whether paid apps would get cheaper if the court forces Apple to reduce its commission is also anyone's guess
Both Apple and Google charge the same rate of commission, and app prices are quite similar across both platforms
So what happens with one company may well affect the other.For the iOS consumer, however, it could mean an end to being restricted to just
This is, quite literally, going to be a protracted battle.
