The lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games over the 30% App Store fee is still ongoing, and both sides submit documents to the court before the next hearing, or witnesses are giving oath testimony. Among these, it was revealed that a witness from Epic Games testified that the operating margin of the App Store reached 78% in 2019.
According to trial data, Epic Games expert witness (Ned Barnes) claimed that the App Store margin was 77.8% in 2019 and 74.9% in 2018. He also denies allegations of Apple expert witnesses that no real profits can be calculated, and is presenting the information as evidence by the Apple Corporate Financial Planning Analyst Group.
In the case of Apple, at a U.S. Congressional hearing in April, COO Kyle Andia announced that there is no independent income statement in the App Store. In addition, Tim Cook’s CEO is making a similar statement about the App Store and its structure, which is in full conflict with the claims of Epic Games. Apple is telling a media that Epic’s expert claims are wrong and expects to be refuted in court.
App store margins are becoming a major issue in the Epic Games trial whether or not Apple is monopolizing the market by platform dominance. Epic Games argues that the App Store doesn’t actually provide any service, it just functions as a way for Apple to withdraw money from developers. However, Apple claims that the App Store review process is playing an important role in its efforts to secure a wide range of platforms, centered on iOS.
Obviously, Apple’s expert witness is questioning these numbers. In other words, these estimates mention that the iOS ecosystem is looking at only one segment and the apparent OP margin of that segment is deliberately increasing, so when we look at the untrusted Apple device and service ecosystem as a whole, the OP margin has fallen to a level not worth noting I’m doing it. In other words, Apple’s app store costs different from other app stores, such as hardware development costs such as the iPhone and measures to close security gaps, but it is shortsighted to mention only specific areas.
However, there are many cases of suspicion that safety is not being sufficiently secured, such as bitcoin scams with more than 1 billion won with a fraudulent app approved by Apple, or fraudulent casino apps disguised as children. This may be pointed out after the resumption of the hearing. Related information can be found here.