OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge questioned Wednesday whether Apple has put in place a set of maddening obstacles to discourage the use of alternative payment options in iPhone apps, despite a court order to create more payment methods for consumers. digital services.
The verbal brawl between Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and Apple’s App Store chief kicked off a hearing to determine whether Apple is still steering U.S. consumers toward its once-proprietary in-app payment system , in defiance of an injunction aimed at promoting more choice which could help reduce prices.
Gonzalez Rogers’ order requires Apple allows app developers to display links to options other than the company’s payment system in the United States, Apple earns billions of dollars a year thanks to this setup, which imposes a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on digital transactions made in most popular iPhone apps.
Apple’s App Store and its commission system are also targeted in another antitrust case. recently filed by the US Department of Justice in a case alleging that the iPhone drives away competition in a variety of ways that stifle competition and innovation.
Gonzalez Rogers often looked frustrated and skeptical as she interjected periodically during four hours of testimony from Matthew Fischer, the Apple executive in charge of the iPhone app store.
The tone of the judge’s questions indicates she is concerned that Apple’s efforts to comply with her order have been primarily designed to protect the company’s profits instead of allowing iPhone users to pass more easily to other in-app payment options, as it had intended.
Gonzalez Rogers was particularly singled out when she asked Fischer whether Apple had deliberately made it more complicated and confusing for consumers to make digital purchases through alternative services.
“Other than stifling competition, I don’t see any other answer,” the judge said as she tried to dissect the rationale for Apple’s design of an alternative payment options system for iPhone apps.
Fischer said Apple was complying with the judge’s order while trying to protect iPhone users from bad actors on the Internet and allowing the Cupertino, Calif., company to reap a return on its investments in the Internet. ‘App Store and other mobile software.
To this end, Apple has introduced a new commission structure ranging from 12% to 27% on digital transactions initiated from an app and completed with an alternative payment option. After Gonzalez Rogers said it appeared Apple was still collecting a “windfall,” Fischer said the company expected its effective commission rate on digital transactions processed through other payment options to be about 18%.
“We run a business,” Fischer said.
Apple spent more than two years trying to overturn the order issued by Gonzalez Rogers in connection with a broader antitrust battle that the company has won. The injunction forcing Apple to allow links to alternative app payments…
