TECH NEWS – Major changes coming with iOS 17.4 (affecting the European Union) could also happen in the United States due to an antitrust lawsuit.

The Digital Market Act will lead to the sideloading of the Apple App Store, so that apps and app stores not from there can be installed. But this change could also affect Apple’s domestic market, as a federal judge has reopened a class action lawsuit filed in 2011 (!?) against the Cupertino-based tech company in the US over its App Store practices.

Remember, the Apple App Store is a monopoly, with a 30% profit margin on all transactions and no external payment methods. This will soon change in the EU, and may even change in the US, because now anyone who has made a purchase of at least $10 from the store can join the lawsuit, and the judge has reconsidered the new proposal. So tens of millions of users could be affected, and the impact on the economics of apps could be huge, and all of this could raise antitrust concerns!

Although the plaintiff was successful in its lawsuit against Apple, Judge Rogers acknowledged that there is a possibility that millions of users who were part of the lawsuit may not have been harmed. The judge also heard testimony from Nobel laureate Daniel McFadden, who quantified the harm caused by Apple’s practices and policies in the App Store. If the case against Apple goes to trial, the company could face hefty fines. Meanwhile, the company is also aware of how the law can implement anti-competitive policies in the digital app market.

While Apple has until March 6 to change its App Store in the EU because of the Digital Markets Act, Japan is also preparing a digital antitrust law to counter antitrust practices by Apple and Google (to prevent them from becoming too dominant by offering an alternative to their own App Stores).

Source: WCCFTech, Reuters