In the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple trial, Apple provided in-depth detail on how many apps it rejected last year and how its App Store payment system keeps customers secure from fraud, seeking to deflect claims from Epic Games that its review process and purchase system is anticompetitive.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg news:
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant on Tuesday said in a statement that it prevented more than $1.5 billion in “potentially fraudulent transactions” last year, underscoring the need for its proprietary payment system at the heart of the on-going antitrust trial with Epic. Over the course of litigation brought by Epic, the game maker has claimed that Apple uses its payment system, which takes a 15% to 30% cut of transactions, and app approval process to juice profits and hurt developers.
Apple said its app review team “is an essential line of defense” and can protect users from apps that would facilitate the purchase of drugs, predatory loans, gambling and pornography. The company blocked 110,000 apps found on pirate app stores that circumvented its App Store over the last year and blocked 3.2 million apps distributed through its enterprise program in the last month.
The fight with Epic blew up in August when the game maker told customers it would replace Apple’s in-app purchase system with its own, circumventing Apple’s commissions from add-ons inside of Fortnite. Apple then removed the game, cutting off access for more than a billion customers.
Apple, which vehemently denies abusing its market power, has called Epic’s legal gambit a “fundamental assault” on a business model that’s beneficial to both developers and consumers.
MacDailyNews Take: Wrap up this farce.