Tim Cook and the judge's dispute: what ended the three-week trial in the case of Epic Games and Apple
The last witness in the trial between Epic Games and Apple was Tim Cook. He stayed in the courtroom for at least two hours, the last minutes of which he had to spend in a tense debate with the judge. Among other things, she was interested in why iOS users cannot buy in-game items outside the App Store.
Tim Cook leaves the Oakland District Court, USA. Photographer: David Paul Morris from Bloomberg”What is the problem with giving users the opportunity to choose content, especially in the context of games?” asked Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers during the court hearing.
Cook replied that users already “have a choice.” Buy cheaper Android phones instead of iPhones. He also added that if Apple allowed developers to use other payment systems, it would “have to forget about the profitability of its IP.”
The statement of the head of Apple did not convince the judge. Gonzalez Rogers suggested that the App Store “may be monetized in a different way.”
According to her, games bring the store much more money compared to Apple’s IP. In addition, in fact, they subsidize all other applications. For example, banks do not pay a commission for transactions that a user makes when making an in-app purchase.
Cook countered that developers are giving a share of Apple’s revenue because the company gives them a platform for transactions. Although “obviously” there are other ways to monetize the App Store, Apple “chose this one.”
Cook also said that if Epic Games wins and third-party digital stores appear on iOS, users will face an increase in fraud. Apart from the fact that it will simply be inconvenient, since people will have to enter data from bank cards several times.
At the end of the interrogation, Gonzalez Rogers announced the results of the study, according to which 39% of iOS developers are dissatisfied with Apple. The judge wanted to know how much the company was worried about this.
To which Cook said that this is the first time he sees such figures and, perhaps, they are related to the fact that about 40% of applications do not pass moderation in the App Store every week. Such a procedure, according to him, may cause some dissatisfaction. But in the end, this is done for the sake of the user’s safety.
Nevertheless, the judge summed up that, in her opinion, Apple does not feel the need to do anything with these figures, because it does not see them as a problem. Neither competitors nor developers exert significant pressure on the company.
Note that the main part of the trial between Epic Games and Apple has ended. Today there will be another meeting in court, where the final arguments will be presented (apparently, without witnesses). After that, Judge Gonzalez Rogers will study the evidence. How long it will take is still unknown, but she promises to finish by August 13.
