One more thing about Apple’s App Store loss to Epic Games: the timing of the court’s decision couldn’t be more pointed.
The court’s decision arrived just one day before Apple is set to report its quarterly earnings. While the ruling won’t affect Apple’s performance over the past three months, it lands at a moment when analysts are focused on the company’s financial outlook — especially its fastest-growing segment: services.
Apple’s Services division now accounts for nearly a quarter of its annual revenue. The company doesn’t disclose how much comes from the App Store specifically, but it’s widely believed to be one of the most profitable components, driven by commissions on app sales and in-app purchases.
Until just a few years ago, Apple didn’t allow developers to even mention that digital goods could be purchased outside their apps. Amazon, for instance, opted not to sell ebooks in its Kindle app to avoid Apple’s cut. The same holds true for Netflix and Spotify, which continue to steer clear of in-app purchases on iOS.
Epic Games changed that. After a years-long legal battle, a federal judge forced Apple to allow developers to tell users about web-based purchasing and to link to external sites. But Apple’s response was to add full-page warning screens, limit developers to one static link per app, and tack on a 27% commission for transactions that originated from those links.
Apple fought hard to defend its App Store revenue — and tomorrow it will have to face questions about what it expects to lose. Regardless of how strong last quarter’s numbers are, this latest legal defeat is guaranteed to come up.
Between Trump-era tariffs, ongoing questions around iPhone manufacturing in China, and the rollout of Apple Intelligence, there was already plenty to watch going into this earnings call. Now, Apple’s courtroom clash with Epic adds yet another layer.
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