Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

At Epic v Apple's closing, judge probes implications of upending Apple's App Store

At Epic v Apple's closing, judge probes implications of upending Apple's App Store

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers hints she may be receptive to allegations Apple misues control over App Store, hurts developers

Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers held unconventional closing arguments Monday in the antitrust trial between Epic Games and Apple Inc, peppering both sides' attorneys for three hours about how far she could - and should - go to change Apple's App Store business.

App makers and regulators around the world are watching the trial and Gonzalez Rogers has hinted in sharp questions to Apple that she may be receptive to some of the "Fortnite" game creators' allegations that Apple misuses its control over the App Store and hurts developers.

Last week the federal judge said that Apple's App Store profits from game makers looked "disproportionate," but on Monday she questioned Epic on whether there was a way to address its concerns without forcing Apple to open the iPhone to rival app stores, as Epic has proposed.

That would be a sweeping change and "courts don't run businesses," she said. She also noted the windfall that a change would mean for Epic, whose own efforts to start a competing paid app store were discussed during the trial.

"Let's be clear. Epic is here because if relief is granted, it goes from being a multi-billion-dollar company to a multi-trillion-dollar company. But it's not doing it out of the goodness of its heart," she said.

Apple attorney Veronica Moye and Gary Bornstien from Epic speak with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers during a weeks-long antitrust trial at federal court in Oakland, California, U.S. May 24, 2021 in this courtroom sketch.


Epic's lawyer Gary Bornstein stuck to the request Epic has made since filing the case last year: Force Apple to open up the iPhone to competing app stores and bar it from requiring developers to use its in-app payment system.

Gonzalez Rogers said that under Epic's proposed changes, it is likely the company would pay Apple nothing, a fact that "concerned" her throughout the trial.

Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney, who has driven the company's legal strategy and attended the entire trial, is "attacking the fundamental way that Apple is generating revenue," Gonzalez Rogers said. "There's a reasonable argument that (Apple is) using these profits to benefit the whole ecosystem."

At times, Gonzalez Rogers questioned other issues, such as an Apple rule barring developers from using email addresses gathered from iPhone users to market ways to avoid Apple's in-app purchase system.

"Apple's hiding of that information in a way that is not directly reflected to the consumer seems to be anticompetitive," she said.

Throughout the day, Apple's attorneys argued that Epic's sweeping requests would make Apple just like the Android system, essentially decreasing consumer choice.

"Apple wants to keep its product differentiated," Apple attorney Veronica Moye said. Anyone who wants third-party app stores "is free to go out and buy an Android device. The relief requested here is to force Apple to take a competing product off the market."

To make her decision, the judge will have to wade through 4,500 pages of testimony, a process she said could take months.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Qualcomm and Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN Team Up to Deploy 200 MW AI Infrastructure
Saudi Arabia’s Economy Expands Five Percent in Third Quarter Amid Oil Output Surge
China’s Vice President Han Zheng Meets Saudi Crown Prince as Trade Concerns Loom
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
×