LONDON, Jan 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Did US tech giant Apple abuse the dominant 
position of its app store in the UK? A trial opening Monday in which 
plaintiffs want more than one billion pounds is set to answer that question.

The complaint, filed in May 2021, accuses Apple of breaching European and UK 
competition laws by "its exclusion of any other app stores from iOS devices" 
like iPhones and iPads.

It claims that some 20 million Apple users may have been overcharged by the 
company "due to its ban on rival app store platforms".

The complainants says a "30 percent surcharge" that the company "imposes" on 
apps purchased through Apple's App Store comes at "expense of ordinary 
consumers".

The case, which Apple has called "meritless", has been brought by Kings 
College London academic Rachael Kent and the law firm Hausfeld & Co.

The trial is set to last seven weeks at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in 
London.

At the heart are accusations that Apple used the App Store to exclude 
competitors, forcing users to use its system and boosting profits in the 
process.

"The 30 percent surcharge relates to most of the applications that you're 
going to be using when you're downloading and making in-app purchases on the 
App Store," Kent told AFP, citing dating platform Tinder as an example.

However, it does not apply to applications offering physical products such as 
the delivery services Deliveroo and Uber Eats, the academic specifies.

Any user who purchased applications or subscriptions in the British version 
of the App Store between October 1, 2015 and November 15, 2024 may be 
entitled to compensation from Apple, believes Kent, a lecturer in the digital 
economy.

The claim seeks total estimated damages of o1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).

According to British law, in this type of class action, all potentially 
affected persons are included in the procedure by default, and may benefit 
from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.
- EU -

When contacted by AFP, Apple referred to a 2022 statement, in which it said 
85 percent of the applications on the App Store are free.

"We believe this lawsuit is meritless and welcome the opportunity to discuss 
with the court our unwavering commitment to consumers and the many benefits 
the App Store and Apple's valuable technologies have delivered to the UK's 
innovation economy," the statement added.

The company also insists that the commission charged by the App Store is 
"very much in the mainstream of those charged by all other digital 
marketplaces".

Investigations and complaints against Apple have multiplied around the world 
in recent years, particularly regarding its app store.

The American behemoth is the subject of another complaint worth o785 million 
(936 million euros) related to rates charged to app developers.

Last June, the European Commission accused Apple of breaching its digital 
competition rules by preventing developers from "freely steering consumers to 
alternative channels" other than the App Store.

Apple then agreed to relax its rules, announcing in August that iPhone and 
iPad users in the European Union could delete the App Store and use competing 
platforms.

"They're responding to these investigations and also being told what to do. I 
don't think they're going to do it voluntarily, which I think is why it's 
really important to bring these collective actions," said Kent.