Judge opens door for millions to sue Apple: App Store walls crumble as class-action lawsuit gets green light

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Just a while back, Apple sorted out yet another class-action lawsuit, but it seems like the tech giant’s legal team can’t catch a break, as a new one is already looming.

According to Reuters, a federal judge stated that tens of millions of Apple customers can proceed with a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by forbidding purchases outside its App Store, which allegedly leads to higher prices.

In March 2022, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers initially declined to certify a class action. However, she reversed her decision after the class was narrowed down to include only Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content.

Although expressing concern that the narrowed class might encompass more than 10 million accounts that suffered no harm, accounting for 7.9% of the total, Rogers noted that this number could be reduced. She emphasized that there was no fixed “cutoff” for denying certification.

The judge also dismissed Apple’s attempt to exclude testimony from two expert witnesses, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel McFadden, that Apple considered unreliable. These experts are expected to shed light on how Apple may have caused harm to consumers.

Mark Rifkin, the lawyer representing the consumers, expressed being “extremely pleased” with the judge’s decision and looks forward to the next phase of the 12-year-old antitrust case. Rifkin estimated that the class incurred “billions of dollars in damages.”

Judge Rogers was also in charge of the Epic Games vs. Apple showdown. Back in September 2021, she told Apple to ease up on restrictions for where developers can ask for payment. However, she didn’t go all the way in making Apple allow downloads to iPhones outside the App Store.
No matter how the case unfolds, Apple’s rules, under attack in this lawsuit, are already undergoing changes globally. For instance, the EU Digital Markets Act is pushing Apple to make adjustments, mandating the allowance of third-party app stores and third-party payment processing within the European Union.

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