Last Updated on 09/12/2021 by Nidhi Khandelwal
Apple’s request to postpone a Dec. 9 deadline to comply with the judge’s directive, which would allow app developers to lead customers to payment methods outside the company’s store, was approved on Wednesday by a federal appeals court.
Apple Inc. has been granted a stay on court-ordered changes to its App Store while it appeals the decision, marking a victory in a legal battle with Epic Games Inc., the maker of Fortnite.
Apple’s request to postpone a Dec. 9 deadline to comply with the judge’s directive, which would allow app developers to lead customers to payment methods outside the company’s store, was approved on Wednesday by a federal appeals court. Epic is posing a serious threat to Apple’s dominance of the $142 billion mobile app distribution market.
Apple, the world’s most valuable technology corporation, has filed a complaint with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming that the changes ordered by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will “hurt users, developers, and Apple itself.” The change she ordered in September has been put on hold until Apple’s appeal is completed, which could take a year or more.
On the news, the company’s stock briefly hit an intraday high. As of 3:33 p.m. in New York, they were up 1.8 percent to $174.24, putting the year-to-date gain to 31%.
“Our fear is that these modifications would have created significant privacy and security issues, as well as disturbed the user experience users enjoy about the App Store,” Apple said in a statement. It added that it is “constantly evolving the App Store to help create an even better experience for our users and the incredibly talented community of iOS developers” and that it thanks the court for “granting this stay while the appeals process continues,” and that it is “constantly evolving the App Store to help create an even better experience for our users and the incredibly talented community of iOS developers.”
Gonzalez Rogers upheld Apple’s position in the face of Epic’s assertions that App Store restrictions violate federal antitrust law by harming developers and consumers while profiting the tech giant.
However, she found that Apple’s so-called anti-steering policy, which prohibits developers from utilizing web links or other techniques within apps to advise users about payment options outside the App Store, violates California’s unfair competition statutes.
