Judge loosens Apple's grip on app store in Epic decision

A federal judge ordered Apple to dismantle part of the competitive barricade guarding its closely run app store, threatening one of the iPhone maker’s biggest moneymakers

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- A federal judge ordered Apple to dismantle part of the competitive barricade guarding its closely run app store, threatening one of the iPhone maker’s biggest moneymakers. Such a change could potentially also save app developers billions of dollars that could encourage them to lower the prices paid by consumers. The ruling issued Friday decides an antirust case brought by Epic Games, best known as the maker of Fortnite, the popular video game played by about 400 million people worldwide. Apple shares dropped on news of the ruling and were down by more than 2% in Friday afternoon trading, reflecting investor fears that the ruling would siphon away billions of dollars in annual revenue from the company. The legal battle targeted commissions of up to 30% that Apple charges on digital transactions within apps. Such transactions can include everything from Netflix or Spotify subscriptions to the sale of digital item such as songs, movies or virtual tchotchkes for video games. Epic cast that highly lucrative fee as a price-gouging tactic that wouldn’t be possible if competing stores were allowed to offer iPhone apps.