Android app makers suing to stop Google from siphoning up to 30 percent of their sales received little reassurance about their chances as a judge allowed a comparable fee charged by Apple to stand.
A US judge stopped short of labeling Apple an « illegal monopolist » on Friday, but the closely-watched ruling provides a roadmap for similar claims against the iPhone maker in the future, legal experts said. Ruling on an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, creator of the online game « Fortnite, » US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Epic did not present sufficient evidence of Apple having unlawful monopoly power in the relevant market, which she defined as « digital mobile gaming transactions. » But the California judge made clear that the decision was limited to the facts before her. « While the Court finds that Apple enjoys considerable market share of over 55 percent and extraordinarily high profit margins, these factors alone do not show antitrust conduct, » Gonzalez Rogers said. « The Court does not find that it is impossible; only that Epic Games failed in its burden to demonstrate Apple is an illegal monopolist.
