The App Store is at the center of a Supreme Court throwdown.
Apple's effort to bring an antitrust lawsuit to a close continues with the hearing of arguments Monday, with Apple—per a report from Billboard—maintaining that the developers are the ones with whom an App Store customer engages in a transaction. "Apple is a sales and distribution agent for developers," attorneys for Apple said in court documents. "Apple's core argument has always been that any injury to consumers necessarily depends on developer pass-through decisions, since Apple does not set apps prices."
The claims against Apple detailed in the suit, however, put forth the opposite argument. Apple is accused of "unfairly" monopolizing a market, with the suit specifically noting the .99 price model requirement. A loss for Apple would likely include cutting the commission charged to developers and, potentially, consumer compensation. As for the likelihood of the suit going that way, Monday's report on the hearing cited previous cases in which justices ultimately sided with Apple's breakdown of the consumer/app developer connection.
Apple's 2018 has included the launch of expectedly anticipated new products including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and new editions of the iPad Pro and MacBook Air. At their annual keynote event in September, Tim Cook and company restated their commitment to sustainability and called on other companies to follow their lead on the abandonment of nonrenewable materials in construction.
At the top of the month, Apple made headlines of a very different kind thanks to Elon Musk.
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