Apple is set to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to oppose an order that would force the company to change a particular App Store policy as ordered earlier by a Circuit Court, according to a new report from Reuters.
The order, which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals brought forward, requires Apple to accept the addition of links and buttons to external payment options in third-party apps that can redirect consumers to make payments outside the App Store. The policy, colloquially referred to as “anti-steering”, aims to prevent third-party developers from redirecting users to non-Apple payment portals, as Apple would like all apps-related payments to be exclusively processed through the App Store.
The order made by the Circuit Court was part of the Epic Games v. Apple antitrust trial, in which Epic Games alleges that Apple’s practices and policies pertaining to the App Store are monopolistic, preventing alternative app stores and payment methods from co-existing on the iPhone and iPad. Epic Games first sued Apple in 2020 after the latter removed Fortnite from the App Store after an update to the game that included an external payment solution in a bid to avoid paying Apple’s 30% fee on in-app purchases.
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Epic Games lost its most recent appeal against Apple, as the Circuit Court sided with the latter during an April 2023 hearing. While it was ruled that the App Store policies are not monopolistic, the Court ordered Apple to repeal its anti-steering policy, allowing developers to redirect users to external payment providers and thus bypassing Apple’s commission which can reach up to 30% of the total transaction fee.
Apple and Epic Games both lodged further petitions with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court to reconsider its April decision, reports Reuters. However, the Circuit Court rejected said petitions, leaving both companies no choice but to file appeals with SCOTUS. Apple has already filed its Supreme Court appeal, but Epic Games is yet to do so, adds the report.
Apple issued a statement following the court hearing in April stating that it “respectfully disagree[s]” with the Court’s decision regarding its anti-steering decision. The company added that its “considering further review” regarding the Court finding anti-steering to be illegal, and it seems that Apple’s review has arrived in the form of an appeal filed with SCOTUS.
