Apple Loses Appeal Of Contempt Ruling In Epic App Store Row

Apple Inc. lost its challenge to a judge’s rebuke for disobedience but won a new chance to argue for charging developers on transactions that are made outside of the App Store.

In Apple’s long-running dispute with Epic Games Inc., a federal appeals court Thursday rejected the iPhone maker’s challenge to an April ruling that it willfully defied an order from a judge who concluded the company engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of California law.

But in its 54-page ruling, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals directed US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to consider letting Apple collect some commission from developers for use of its intellectual property — just not at the 27% level that the company initially imposed.

“The district court used blunt force to ban all commissions, abusing its discretion,” the unanimous three-judge panel said. “Apple is entitled to some compensation for the use of its intellectual property that is directly used in permitting Epic and others to consummate linked-out purchases.”

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The companies have sparred for more than five years after Epic, maker of the popular Fortnite game, accused Apple of illegally blocking competition to its App Store. Rogers ruled in April that Apple deliberately flouted her 2021 order to allow developers to direct consumers to cheaper payment options online. Apple takes a 15% to 30% cut of most in-app purchases, which has long angered developers.

The App Store generates billions of dollars annually from the commissions Apple takes from app developers on digital sales. The company doesn’t separately report revenue on App Store sales, though it said that it “facilitated” more than $400 billion in developer sales in 2024. Appfigures, a mobile analytics and intelligence platform, estimated that Apple generated $10 billion in the US in 2024 from its App Store.

Following a 2021 trial, Rogers largely sided with Apple over Epic in finding that App Store policies didn’t run afoul of federal antitrust law. However, she found the company violated California law and ordered Apple to allow developers to direct consumers to cheaper payment options online. The ruling was upheld by the 9th Circuit and US Supreme Court.

In response, Apple allowed developers to point users to the web for transactions, but it imposed a new 27% commission on revenue generated that way. Epic then accused Apple of flouting the 2021 ruling by imposing the new commission along with other restrictions on the placement and design of links.