{"id":522781,"date":"2025-10-23T18:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/522781\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T18:18:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:18:17","slug":"uk-court-loss-could-cost-apple-1-5bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/522781\/","title":{"rendered":"UK court loss could cost Apple \u00a31.5bn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris VallanceSenior Technology Reporter<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Apple could be forced to pay up to \u00a31.5bn in damages after losing a collective legal action court case brought on behalf of 36 million UK iPhone and iPad users, both consumers and businesses.<\/p>\n

The Competition Appeals Tribunal found that Apple<\/a> had abused its dominant position by charging “excessive and unfair” prices in the form of the 30% commission, which it usually levies both on app sales and in-app payments.<\/p>\n

The claimants argued that this meant that consumers had been overcharged for apps, subscriptions to apps, and when buying digital content in apps.<\/p>\n

Apple said it strongly disagreed with the ruling and would appeal.<\/p>\n

The case was pursued by academic Dr Rachael Kent.<\/p>\n

Her lawyers argue it is the first such claim brought under the UK’s collective action regime to have succeeded.<\/p>\n

Dr Kent called the decision a “landmark victory, not only for App Store users, but for anyone who has ever felt powerless against a global tech giant”. <\/p>\n

“Today’s ruling sends a clear message: no company, however wealthy or powerful, is above the law.”<\/p>\n

The tribunal’s decision comes a day after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated both Apple and Google as having “strategic market status” – effectively saying they have a lot of power over mobile platforms.<\/p>\n

It means the competition watchdog could force Apple to allow rivals to operate their own app stores on iPhones in the UK.<\/p>\n

This would be a significant change to Apple’s “closed system”, where apps can only be downloaded from its own App Store.<\/p>\n

‘Strongly disagree’<\/p>\n

Apple maintains that because commission is only charged on the sale of paid apps and on in-app purchases, 85% of apps on the App Store do not pay any commission at all.<\/p>\n

And it points to its introduction of a programme for small businesses where the usual 30% rate of commission is halved.<\/p>\n

In a statement sent to the BBC, Apple wrote that it strongly disagreed with the ruling, which took a flawed view of the “thriving and competitive app economy”. <\/p>\n

The App Store had benefited businesses and consumers across the UK, it said, and had created a dynamic marketplace where developers compete and users could choose from millions of innovative apps. <\/p>\n

“This ruling overlooks how the App Store helps developers succeed and gives consumers a safe, trusted place to discover apps and securely make payments,” Apple said.<\/p>\n

Adding: “The App Store faces vigorous competition from many other platforms \u2014 often with far fewer privacy and security protections”. <\/p>\n

Apple said it intended to appeal.<\/p>\n

Who can claim?<\/p>\n

According to lawyers Hausfeld & Co. LLP, who represented Dr Kent, “any UK user of an iPhone or iPad who purchased paid-for apps, subscriptions or made in-app purchases of digital content within the UK storefront of the App Store at any point since 1 October 2015 is potentially entitled to compensation from Apple”.<\/p>\n

The purchases must have been made on iPhone and\/or iPad devices, they add.<\/p>\n

But it has it has yet to be established exactly how much eligible individual consumers or businesses may be able to claim, the BBC has been told.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris VallanceSenior Technology Reporter Getty Images Apple could be forced to pay up to \u00a31.5bn in damages after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-522781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115424862984076994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}