Published , by Josh Hawkins
Published , by Josh Hawkins
If you’ve been following the ongoing case between Apple and its App Store users, then you’ve probably been waiting to hear the Supreme Court’s verdict. Today, May 13, the Supreme Court ruled against Apple 5-4, allowing iPhone users to move forward with their suit against the company.
If you haven’t been following the argument between iPhone users and Apple, then allow me to enlighten you a bit. iPhone users are unhappy and have argued that the 30% commission that Apple places on sales through the App Store is passed along to consumers and is an unfair use of monopoly power. Apple’s biggest argument in the case was that only app developers and not users should be able to bring such a lawsuit forward.
According to CNBC, who has been following the case, Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected the claim, stating, “Apple’s line-drawing does not make a lot of sense, other than as a way to gerrymander Apple out of this and similar lawsuits.”
This has, honestly, been the expected outcome for the past several months, as the justices already seemed skeptical of Apple’s responding arguments back in November. This ruling will allow iPhone users to move forward with their antitrust case, which could eventually end up with millions of dollars’ worth of penalties coming to play. It will be interesting to see how things go down from here, as the users move forward with their case.
Unfortunately, this isn’t good for Apple, as its shares were down more than 5% on top of already being down due to the trade concerns as of late. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the news as it develops, so make sure you stay tuned to Shacknews. You can also head over and follow Shacknews on Twitter, where you’ll get a constant stream of our latest news, guides, and other content delivered right to your timeline.