In an internal meeting, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on Epic Games’ verdict which held the company’s integrity. On Friday, September 11, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on the high-profile Epic Games case which found the developer in violation of its contract and exonerated Apple by stating that it’s not a ‘monopoly’. However, Apple was ordered to do away with the anti-steering policy.
Tim Cook says Epic was seeking “special” treatment which is against Apple’s policy
In the recording of the meeting, obtained by The Verge, reassured Tim Cook reiterated that App Store is not only a trusted and safe place for consumers to find apps but also a business opportunity for developers. Speaking of Epic Games, he said that Epic wanted to receive “special” treatment and only when to court because Apple refused. Having said that, the most important outcome of the case is that Apple is validated by the court as “fair” competition.
“If you sort of back up and remember what the App Store is about, the App Store was built to be a trusted place for users so they could go explore and discover apps. It was meant to be a great business opportunity for developers.
Epic came along and wanted basically to be handled in a special way. Our rules are that we treat everyone the same. They ask us repeatedly to treat them different, we said no, and they sued us on 10 different items. The court ruled nine of those in favor of Apple and one in favor of Epic. Most importantly, they ruled that Apple is not a monopoly, which we’ve always known. Apple is in a fiercely competitive market.”
Mr. Cook’s remarks on Epic Games are not without grounds. During the trial, Mr.Tim Sweeney, CEO, and founder of Epic Games told the court that if Apple had only given him a preferential deal, he would have accepted it.
Moving on, Mr.Cook did not comment on the company’s plan to appeal the court’s order to allows developers to link alternative payments options, outside the App Store, on their iOS apps. But he did say that “I think the ruling will be very good to try to put some of the discussions to rest on the App Store. In terms of the one we lost, there were one or two sentences scratched out of an agreement, that was the extent of it. I’m sort of looking forward to moving forward now.” The Epic Games trial was time-consuming and involved senior management including Cook, Craig Federighi, Phill Schiller, even former iOS chief Scott Forstall, and others.
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