On Wednesday, Apple faced a setback when a US appeals court declined to grant a temporary hold on significant aspects of a federal judge’s ruling that mandates the company to open its App Store to increased competition.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Apple’s request to pause the enforcement of the ruling while the company pursues an appeal. This order was part of a protracted antitrust lawsuit initiated by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite.
In April, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers determined that Apple was in contempt of a prior injunction associated with the Epic Games case.
Following the ruling, Apple expressed disappointment over the court’s decision to not stay the district court’s order, asserting that it will continue to defend its position during the appeals process.
The April 30 ruling required Apple to eliminate certain business practices that the judge identified as attempts to bypass the injunction. This included a newly imposed 27 percent fee on app developers when users make purchases outside the App Store.
The court also forbade Apple from limiting where developers can place links that direct users to alternative purchasing options outside of their apps.
Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, remarked on X following the appeals court’s decision, stating that the “long national nightmare of the Apple tax has ended.”
In its emergency appeal, Apple argued that the ruling hindered its control over essential business operations and forced the company to provide unrestricted access to its services.
Epic Games, however, contended that Apple was attempting to evade competition and continue collecting fees that the judge had prohibited.
According to Epic, since Judge Gonzalez Rogers issued her injunction in April, Apple has encountered a “surge of genuine competition” as developers revamped their apps to offer enhanced payment methods, better deals, and greater consumer choice.
Epic Games launched its lawsuit against Apple in 2020, seeking to reduce the company’s dominance over transactions within applications that operate on its iOS platform and the mechanisms through which apps are delivered to consumers.
While Apple largely prevailed in the initial case, Gonzalez Rogers ruled in 2021 that Apple must facilitate developers in directing consumers towards cheaper payment alternatives outside of Apple’s ecosystem.
According to the judge, Apple’s defiance of that court order was aimed at preserving a multibillion-dollar revenue stream, and she noted that the company misled the court regarding its compliance efforts. This prompted her to refer Apple and one of its executives to federal prosecutors for a potential criminal contempt investigation.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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