‘Epic wants us to be Android, but we don’t want to be,’ says Apple

The trial between Epic Games and Apple kicked off with both sides presenting their opening statements in a federal court in Oakland, California before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

Epic argued on how Apple has built a monopolistic and anti-competitive ecosystem surrounding the App Store and iPhone. Epic lawyers mentioned that Apple is forcing developers to use its in-app purchase system which then gives Apple a 30 percent commission from every purchase. The plaintiff described App Store as a “walled garden” and presented emails from current and former Apple executives to prove this claim. But Apple said Epic fails to support its claims with evidence.

Epic also targeted Apple’s app review process and said it fails to catch hundreds of thousands of scam and phishing apps each year. Apple said it removed more than 400,000 apps from the App Store to date. The Cupertino company also noted that it has 500 “expert reviewers” to acknowledge the review process.

Apple pushed back the accusation by pointing out the fee Epic pays to the console platforms even though they don’t allow external apps or alternative payment methods. Apple’s statements focused more on the benefit it has provided to developers on its platforms such as numerous APIs and developer resources.

Epic Games wants Apple to allow third-party app stores on iOS and permit developers to offer direct payment systems. Doing so, according to the iPhone maker, will take away a single, highly curated App Store that protects the security, privacy, reliability, and quality that customers have come to expect from Apple.

Apple lawyer Karen Dunn referred to the ability to sideload apps outside of Google Play on Android and said:

Epic wants us to be Android, but we don’t want to be. Our consumers don’t want that either.

Via / MacRumors

Apple executives Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller will also testify in course of time. The trial will run for the next three weeks.