Apple is trying to bring back external payment fees on the App Store

Apple has come under court pressure, but it’s not going to give up without a fight.

The court ordered Apple to immediately stop charging fees on payments that take place outside the App Store, a major blow to the company’s revenue. However, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reports in his Power On newsletter that Apple is already strategizing on how to reverse the decision.

The court ordered Apple to immediately stop charging fees on payments made outside the App Store, a major blow to the company’s revenue.

The judge said Apple willfully ignored a previous injunction and continued to collect fees from developers using alternative payment methods. Now the company is being probed for a possible criminal offense – a contempt charge can’t be ruled out. What’s more, allegations of lying by Apple in the 2021 proceedings have surfaced.

The company is now being probed for a possible criminal offense – contempt charges have been ruled out.

An additional ambiguous statement added to the situation, with Apple representatives saying they don’t know how much profit the App Store generates. This prompted skepticism from the judge and the public. Despite all this, Apple is forced to temporarily comply with the ruling because it has no other choice.

Apple is now forced to temporarily comply with the ruling because it has no other choice.

The company, however, has already filed a motion to stay the judgment as part of the appeal. Gurman believes this attempt has little chance of success, but it’s part of Apple’s overall plan to lift the restrictions altogether in the future.

Developers around the world took the news as a victory. But even if the court doesn’t go Apple’s way, the company could try to negotiate a compromise. One possibility is to cite the experience of Google Play and Samsung’s Galaxy Store, which also get a percentage of third-party payments. But Apple’s closed ecosystem makes it difficult to use alternatives and could play against it in court.

This isn’t the only threat to Apple’s business. The deal with Google, which makes Google’s search engine the default in Safari, is also under threat. If the deal is torn up, the company will lose about $20 billion a year. Apple is trying its best to keep the partnership intact.

The company has previously been required to allow app downloads that bypass the App Store, third-party NFC payments, and other alternative options in the European Union. All of this hits at the core of Apple’s business model. It looks like its “high-walled garden” is starting to crumble – and it’s getting harder and harder to stop.

The story Apple tries to claw back App Store fees was first published at ITZine.ru.