The attorneys general of 34 states, plus the District of Columbia (Washington, the US capital…), say Apple is creating a monopoly with the App Store…!?

Oops, what a turn of events: when essentially two-thirds of the US state attorneys general say that Apple continues to suppress competition on the iOS platform and the devices that use it, that must be in Epic Games’ favour since they’ve been taking the same position all along (and that’s why they tried to circumvent the Apple App Store and Google Play Store microtransaction profit margins by Fortnite’s direct payment method that led to Apple and Google get rid of Tim Sweeney’s company ).

Reuters reported on a letter initiated by the State of Utah. Colorado, Indiana and Texas quickly joined it. “Apple’s conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app developers and millions of citizens. Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize app distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry. Paradoxically, firms with enough market power to unilaterally impose contracts would be protected from antitrust scrutiny — precisely the firms whose activities give the most cause for antitrust concern.”

Last year’s ruling was appealed by both Apple and Epic Games, who wanted to get the court to rule that the tech company should be obliged to support third-party payment alternatives (i.e., squeeze Apple’s profit margin), which was not the case. According to Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers, Apple’s 15-30% profit margin does not violate antitrust law. Meanwhile, the tech company still refused to allow Fortnite back on the Apple App Store.

Apple is due to respond in March, but already the company says Epic Games’ challenge will fail while stressing that the App Store also maintains a layer of security for consumers and provides developers with plenty of opportunities…

Source: WCCFTech