Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and software chief Craig Federighi are among the technology giant’s top executives who are likely to testify in its trial versus Epic Games, maker of Fortnite.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
In addition to Cook and Federighi, App Store Vice President Matt Fischer, Apple’s former marketing chief and current Apple Fellow Phil Schiller may also testify, the company said. Other executives who may also take the stand include those in charge of combating fraud on the App Store, facilitating payments, game development, marketing, and developer relations, according to a tentative list of Apple’s witnesses submitted to the court.
“We feel confident the case will prove that Epic purposefully breached its agreement solely to increase its revenues, which is what resulted in their removal from the App Store,” the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. “By doing that, Epic circumvented the security features of the App Store in a way that would lead to reduced competition and put consumers’ privacy and data security at tremendous risk.”
The executives are expected to testify live in person and Cook is scheduled for a total of 2 hours and 10 minutes, combining direct examination, cross examination, and re-direct examination. Federighi is listed at a total of 3 hours and 10 minutes, while Schiller, who runs the App Store, will be available for 11 hours, according to the list.
MacDailyNews Take: Last February, a judge determined that Apple CEO Tim Cook should sit for a seven-hour deposition in the Epic Games antitrust case.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, etc. testifying in this Fortnite trial will boil down to the fact that Epic Games wants to enjoy all of the benefits of Apple’s App Store, including access to well over one billion of the world’s most affluent users for free. That is illogical, unfair, and, basically, theft.
