The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider appeals from both Apple and Epic Games contesting antitrust rulings in an ongoing legal battle between the two companies that could cost the iPhone maker billions.
Tuesday’s decision could cost Apple billions in revenue.
Apple petitioned the Supreme Court on Sept. 28 to overturn 2021 rulings from the District Court for the Northern District of California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found it violated California state laws on unfair competition.
Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, also petitioned the Supreme Court on Sept. 27 to review a separate component of the 2021 rulings, which determined Apple did not have a monopoly on mobile gaming.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of Apple’s appeal will allow the lower court's ruling—which has been on hold throughout the appeals process—to take effect and will require the company to allow alternative in-app payment options.
The move could potentially cost the tech giant billions by making it easier for developers to avoid paying up to 30% in commission to Apple by inserting links to alternative payment options in apps.
The justices gave no reasoning behind the decisions.
Apple and Epic Games did not immediately respond to Forbes’ requests for comment.
The legal battle—which has spanned years—between the two companies began in 2020 after Epic Games sued Apple alleging that it was engaging in anticompetitive behaviors through its App Store policies, which charge developers up to 30% for in-app purchase commissions. The video game developer created its own policy to avoid the commission fee, which resulted in Fortnite being ousted from the App Store in August 2020. While the District Court for the Northern District of California did not rule that Apple had a monopoly on mobile gaming, it did decide that it was in violation of California state laws on unfair competition. Both Apple and Epic Games appealed, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the district court’s rulings.
“The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States," Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder and CEO, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "A sad outcome for all developers.”
The Supreme Court allows a court order to take effect that could cost Apple billions of dollars (The Washington Post)
Epic Games wins antitrust case against Google over Play app store (Reuters)
The App Store As We Know It Is Dead, Thanks To Epic Games (And Europe) (Forbes)