This antitrust class action alleges that, in the area of game apps, Apple is a massive “monopsony” and “[p]laintiffs and the proposed class members are largely small startups who break their back[s] on Apple’s terms to produce free apps consumed by billions.” Apple, it says, underpays app makers, illegally rejects some of their work, charges them high fees, and favors Apple products or those created by other favored makers.
A monopsony is a market structure where there is a single buyer for certain goods or services offered by many sellers—for example, when a big coal company is the only buyer of labor in an isolated area. In such cases, wages or payments tend to be low. Apple accomplishes this through its App Store, where it controls the terms and conditions, where it takes a 30% cut of game prices in in-game purchases, and where everything published and offered has to get Apple’s approval.
The plaintiff in this case is Primary Productions, LLC, an app developer. In June 2018, it finished a seven-year project developing an app intended to teach users about blockchain currency, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. The complaint describes it this way: “The app was completely free to use, funded through sponsorships and media partnerships, and did not subject any user to any form of risk[] whatsoever. In fact, users were paid to use the app, in the form of modern digital currency.”
However, at the time, Apple was developing something it called the Apple Arcade, for cheap or free-to-play games and, the complaint claims, it saw Primary Productions as a threat and rejected the app. The complaint alleges, “In 2021 along, as of filing [of this case], Apple has already rejected one million apps, representing millions of person-hours of lost work…”
Alternatively, the complaint says that Apple holds a monopoly in the market for “smartphone enhanced [I]nternet backbone access devices” for iOS systems and for payment processing for them.
The complaint also refers to a US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Antitrust concerning Apple.
Three classes have been defined for this action:
- The first is all US developers-programmers for Apple iOS apps that was excluded through Apple’s disallowance, ranking suppression, or their non-participation in Apple’s Developer Program License Agreement (DPLA) on Apple’s iOS App Store, who did or did not sign the DPLA.
- The second is all US developers of any Apple iOS app or in-app product that must pay a 30% sales commission in Apple’s App Store.
- The third is US-based iOS developers who were required to sign the DPLA and pay Apple $99 to access the 60% of people who use iOS over the national Internet backbone.
Topic: Antitrust
Most Recent Case Event
Apple Monopsony for Developers in the Apple App Store Complaint
May 17, 2021
This antitrust class action alleges that, in the area of game apps, Apple is a massive “monopsony” and “[p]laintiffs and the proposed class members are largely small startups who break their back[s] on Apple’s terms to produce free apps consumed by billions.” Apple, it says, underpays app makers, illegally rejects some of their work, charges them high fees, and favors Apple products or those created by other favored makers.
Apple Monopsony for Developers in the Apple App Store ComplaintCase Event History
Apple Monopsony for Developers in the Apple App Store Complaint
May 17, 2021
This antitrust class action alleges that, in the area of game apps, Apple is a massive “monopsony” and “[p]laintiffs and the proposed class members are largely small startups who break their back[s] on Apple’s terms to produce free apps consumed by billions.” Apple, it says, underpays app makers, illegally rejects some of their work, charges them high fees, and favors Apple products or those created by other favored makers.
Apple Monopsony for Developers in the Apple App Store Complaint