Apple is set for trial on Monday, as the first of the big tech firms to face a UK class action over claims it has been charging “excessive and unlawful” fees on its App Store.
The billion pound landmark case was launched back in 2021 to the Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of nearly 20m Apple users.
The claim alleges that Apple deliberately shuts out competition by forcing consumers to use its own payment processing system.
It was stated that the tech giant charges a 30 per cent commission on purchases made on the app store, while taking a further fee from developers for in-app purchases.
The claim alleges that this practice enables Apple to generate “unlawfully excessive levels of profit”.
The claim was launched by law firm Hausfeld, with Dr Rachael Kent, a lecturer at King’s College London, listed as the class representative for the action.
It was estimated by the law firm that 19.6m UK users are eligible for the claim as it seeks total damages of up to £1.5bn.
Apple has previously described the lawsuit as “meritless” and said it “welcomes the opportunity to discuss with the court our unwavering commitment to consumers and the many benefits the App Store has delivered to the UK’s innovation economy”.
Back in September, a short hearing was held to consider the interaction between this case and a similar case of Dr Sean Ennis v Apple.
The Tribunal ruled in November that these proceedings would continue as normal, independently of the Ennis proceedings, which will be managed separately.
Apple is the first Big Tech company to face trial under the UK collective action regime.
This case will be closely watched as it will have an impact on the other class actions against big names such as £14bn against Google and £2.2bn against Meta, whose trials are set to follow.
The trial will kick off on 13 January at the Tribunal for an estimated seven weeks hearing.
