Apple Loses $2 Billion UK Lawsuit Over App Store Monopoly

Apple lost a UK lawsuit Thursday, which accuses the US tech giant of abusing the dominant position of its App Store, with claimants seeking more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in damages.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal found that Apple shut out competition in the app distribution market and charged app developers "excessive and unfair" commissions. 

Apple said it "strongly disagrees" with the ruling and intends to appeal.

The case was brought by King's College London academic Rachael Kent and the law firm Hausfeld & Co on behalf of millions of UK iPhone and iPad users.

Under UK law, in this type of class action, all potentially affected persons are included in the procedure by default and may benefit from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.

In the trial, which opened in January, claimants argued that Apple users were overcharged by the company "due to its ban on rival app store platforms."

They said a 30-per cent surcharge that the company "imposes" on apps purchased through Apple's App Store leads to consumers "paying more."

At the heart of the claimants' case was that Apple used the App Store to exclude competitors, forcing users to use its system and boosting profits in the process.

Apple, which had denounced the trial as "baseless", maintained that its App Store "faces vigorous competition from many other platforms."

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