Epic Games Inc., an epic gaming company whose ally of Apple’s rival is an enemy, made a final request to a federal judge to curb the market power of the App Store, while the iPhone maker called for its 2 million app market to be affected. interference.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers) listened to a lawyer’s closing debate on the creator of the large-scale movie “Fortnite” (Fortnite) and the iPhone manufacturer on Monday. How this case might subvert Manage the problems of the $142 billion mobile app world.

Lawyers re-examined the subject of the three-week trial in Oakland, California, and debated a range of topics, including the extent of the market that Epic claims Apple controls and whether Apple’s strict control of its stores will harm developers and users. Gonzalez Rogers decided not to let the jury try the case. She said she hoped to make a ruling as soon as possible, but did not specify a date.

On Monday, after the judge immediately questioned Apple CEO Tim Cook (Tim Cook), the judge raised the question. Since then, how Apple collects a 30% commission from developers for in-app purchases through its App Store has not changed. The store opened in 2008.

Gonzalez Rogers said: “If there is real competition, this number will increase, and it will not increase.” “If the relevant market here includes competition from developers, so far, the market Nothing seems to be forcing Apple to compete for developers.”

Apple lawyer Daniel Swanson (Daniel Swanson) said that even if the developer commission rate remains the same, Apple is still improving the quality of its equipment. Swanson said that games played on Apple’s iOS operating system can be “independent” from games on some of the best consoles and PCs. “That’s quality competition.”

After the iPhone maker removed Fortnite from its App Store, Epic sued Apple in August because the game company created a workaround so it doesn’t have to continue to pay 30% for customers’ in-app purchases. This case has aroused people’s interest throughout Silicon Valley, and everyone from Microsoft to Nvidia has participated in this struggle. Apple cut its revenue from 30% to 15% of developers in November, and the revenue of these developers is up to $1 million.

The popular video game “Fortnite” is the subject of a legal action between its creator Epic Games and Apple [File: Brendan McDermid/Illustration/Reuters]

Epic’s ruling will loosen Apple’s control over its stores and could disrupt the way millions of developers distribute applications to handheld device users worldwide. This may also stimulate the US Department of Justice and other global regulatory agencies to take action to review Apple’s power as the gatekeeper of the digital economy.

Lawyers spent a lot of time on an issue that they did not agree with from the beginning in the legal proceedings: Apple defined the market definition of so-called antitrust behavior in it.

Epic argued that Apple controls the mobile app distribution market on the iPad and iPhone to make a profit by paying commissions for virtual goods in the app. In contrast, Apple believes that it competes in the digital game trading market on many devices, including video game consoles.

Epic’s lawyer Gary Bornstein (Gary Bornstein) said that “there is no alternative” to access apps on iOS other than the App Store, including the Fortnite app. He said that getting the same app on an Android device or video game console does not mean that Apple allows other app stores to be used on iOS.

Swanson reiterated Apple’s position that the market should be broadly defined to cover digital transactions across devices. Swanson said the Fortnite manufacturer’s view of equipment replacement is “red herring.”

The lawyers also expressed reservations about Epic’s request for Apple to make a ruling, which instructed Apple to allow other application markets to be used with the App Store.

The problem is, “They are the only store in town,” “The only store there is where the app is published on the iPhone,” Epic’s Bornstein said.

Apple’s lawyer Richard Doren argued that if Epic wins, it will make it a “pathetic imitation” of Google Android and open it to alternative app stores, which will destroy the company’s carefully crafted App Store. .

Gonzalez Rogers pointed out that Epic also filed a similar lawsuit against Google for its Google Play App Store policy. She asked how Epic would instruct Apple to allow other app stores to solve the problem because it “sue Google with the exact model.”

“We don’t think that iOS should be exactly the same as Android,” Bornstein said. He said that Epic’s lawsuit against Google may broadly cover similar claims, but it specifically targets a separate policy.

The judge clarified that when she told the company on Friday, she hoped to make a ruling before August 13, which was just a joke. She explained on Monday that this date happened to be the year the legal battle began.