Over 1,500 app developers in the
United Kingdom brought a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit against
Apple over its App Store fees.
Revenues at Apple (AAPL)’s services business, which includes
the App Store, have grown rapidly in the last few years and now hover around
$20 billion per quarter.
However, the commissions of 15% to 30% that the company
charges some app makers for using an in-app payment
system have been criticized by app developers and targeted by antitrust
regulators in several countries.
Apple has previously said that 85% of
developers on the App Store do not pay any commission and that it helps
European developers access markets and customers in 175 countries around the
world through the App Store.
The UK lawsuit at
the Competition Appeal Tribunal is being brought by Sean Ennis, a professor at
the Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia and a former
economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, on
behalf of 1,566 app developers.
He is being
advised by the law firm Geradin Partners.
“Apple’s charges
to app developers are excessive and only possible due to its monopoly on the
distribution of apps onto iPhones and iPads,” Ennis said in a statement.
“The charges are
unfair in their own right and constitute abusive pricing. They harm app
developers and also app buyers.”