Epic vs apple court hearing live8/3/2023 ![]() you would agree with the basic proposition that competition is good?Ĭook: I think competition is great. And then we have the majority of other people that pay 15 percent, and only the people that are really profiting in a major way are paying 30 percent. We do that with a lot of free apps, so we don’t collect a commission from them they bring a lot to the table. I view that we are creating the entire amount of commerce on the store, and we’re doing that by focusing on getting the largest audience there. Apple’s just profiting off that, it seems to me.Ĭook: I view it differently than you do, Your Honor. But after that first time, after that first interaction, the are keeping the customer with the games. I understand this notion that somehow Apple’s bringing the customers to the users. But it seems to be lucrative and focused on purchases that are being made frankly on an impulse basis - that’s a totally different question, about whether that’s a good thing or not, it’s not really right for antitrust law - but it does appear to be disproportionate. There are clearly other ways to monetize, but we chose this one, because we think this one overall is the best way. Rogers: People are doing lots of things on your platform.Ĭook: But this is a digital transaction with an observable change in currency.Ĭook: We’ve made a choice. I have multiple banking apps, I haven’t paid for them, but I suspect other than the $99, you don’t charge Wells Fargo, right? Or Bank of America? But you’re charging the gamers to subsidize Wells Fargo.Ĭook: In the gamers example, they’re transacting on our platform. Rogers: But let me ask you, so banking apps. ![]() We have 150,000 APIs that we create and maintain, and numerous developer tools, and the customer service piece of dealing with all these transactions. Rogers: So your logic then is that it’s more of a customer base, not an IP, then?Ĭook: It’s both, because we need a return on our IP. However, the way I look at that, Your Honor, is that by having such a large number of apps that are free on the store, it increases the traffic to the store dramatically, so the benefit somebody gets is a much higher audience to sell to than they would otherwise if there weren’t free apps there. ![]() In a sense, it’s almost as if they’re subsidizing everybody else.Ĭook: The bulk of the apps on the App Store are free, so you’re right that there is some sort of subsidy there. Rogers: But you could also monetize it a different way, couldn’t you? I mean, that is, the gaming industry seems to be generating a disproportionate amount of money relative to the IP that you are giving them and everybody else. Rogers: But if they wanted to go and get a cheaper Battle Pass or V-Bucks, and they don’t know they’ve got that option, what is the problem with Apple giving them that option? Or at least the information that they can go and have a different option for making purchases?Ĭook: If we allowed people to link out like that, we would in essence give up our total return on our IP. They have a choice between many different Android models of smartphone or an iPhone, and that iPhone has a certain set of principles behind it, from safety and security to privacy. Rogers: So what is the problem with allowing users to have choice, especially in a gaming context, to have a cheaper option for content?Ĭook: I think they have a choice today. ![]() Rogers: The other thing you said is that you want to give users control. Rogers: And in-app purchases in particular, right? Rogers: And it’s incredibly significant - compared to all other users, revenue is coming from gamers more than anyone else, am I right in my current understanding?Ĭook: The majority of the revenue on the App Store comes from games. I’ve seen evidence that a significant portion of revenue from in-app purchases comes from gamers. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers: At the beginning of your testimony, you indicated that you wanted to focus on users.
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