Mike Peterson
The U.S. District Court Judge presiding over a lawsuit accusing Apple of price-gouging on the App Store criticized the math of one of the case's expert witnesses.
Daniel McFadden, a Nobel prize-winning economist, prepared an analysis backing a claim that Apple's App Store requirements cost consumers billions of dollars. However, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers didn't appear to buy that argument, Bloomberg has reported.
During questioning lawyers for the consumers in the case, Judge Gonzalez Rogers knocked McFadden's work, claiming that he provided only six paragraphs to explain his methodology and adding that he isn't "an expert in any of it."
The lawsuit alleges that Apple owes iPhone customers between $7 billion and $10 billion for charging "supra-competitive" prices for app and in-app purchases on the App Store. However, the case can only be certified as a class action representing nearly 400 million App Store users if Judge Gonzalez Rogers allows it to move forward.
At this point, it isn't clear if she will green-light the lawsuit. For example, the judge cast doubt on the way that McFadden used the Epic Games store as a benchmark for how Apple overcharges customers.
"What about the fact that it's operating at a loss for the foreseeable future?" Judge Gonzalez Rogers asked lawyers. "If you cherry pick your numbers, how is that methodology? And if I don't agree with that, doesn't the entire model fall?"
Lawyers for customers defended McFadden's work, saying that the methodology he used is "widely accepted by economists to determine and measure the effects of anticompetitive conduct on market prices" and calling the analysis "relevant, reliable, and admissible."
Earlier in 2021, Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled largely in favor of Apple in a similar lawsuit levied by Epic Games. Despite championing her decision as a "resounding victory," Apple has appealed one portion of the ruling that would force it to allow third-party payment links or buttons within apps.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
10 Comments
LOL...if "supra-competitive" pricing really existed on the App Store, then you wouldn't need a Nobel winning economist to convince the judge to allow the lawsuit to proceed. You would simply hand the judge a list of hundreds of thousands of apps that had significantly higher prices on iOS than on Android or Mac/Windows or Playstation/Xbox/Switch.
I like this judge. Sees right through the BS.
I like this judge, she fair and consider all situations. for the Nobel winner economist to come out and say such thing, I wonder who pay you or what you have against apple?
Was anyone forced to pay for apps? Were the prices somehow hidden or false?
If you see an app (or IAP) and you think it’s too expensive, don’t buy it. Easy. Pick any category and there are tons of apps at all different price points. The prices are all listed up front in the App Store. You can even research all this online before you buy an iPhone/iPad, so none of this should be a surprise.
I wonder how much they’re paying their lawyers. I’ll bet it’s more in an hour or two than they’ll ever spend in two lifetimes on apps.
So this is what you do today if you don't like the price of goods - get a class action suit going or just loot the store. What a world... what a world.