Two app developers — Donald Cameron and Pure Sweat Basketball — filed a lawsuit against Apple in a California federal court, alleging that the Cupertino tech giant engages in anti-competitive practices.
The plaintiffs claim that limiting the purchase and download of apps to just the App Store stifles developers.
App Store demands 30% commissions on all app purchases plus a $99 yearly fee from devs just to qualify for on-platform software sales. Apple also artificially regulates minimum and maximum price points for apps, according to the lawsuit says.
"This practice is analogous to a monopolist retailer paying artificially low wholesale prices to its suppliers," the developers said in their complaint filed Tuesday. "In both paradigms, a competitive market would yield better post-commission or wholesale prices, and fairer profits, for developers' digital products."
The Cupertino-based tech company, who just presented its newest Mac OS upgrade, did not comment on the new lawsuit, The Hill report says.
Apparently, the company has other troubles on its hands. On Monday, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission initiated an antitrust investigation into the four main US tech companies. According to an agreement reached between the two bodies, the Department of Justice will handle the investigation into Apple and Google, while the Commission will probe Facebook and Amazon. The details of the investigation have not yet been disclosed.
