'Alarming errors' lead to App Store class action decertification

While it's not Epic vs. Apple, after more than 13 years of back and forth, an antitrust case that was awarded class action status in 2024 has now lost that after numerous errors were found in determining affected users.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers had finally given an antitrust case the class action status it had been seeking for more than a decade in 2024. The move was made when the scope of those affected was limited to those that spent more than $10 or more on apps or in-app content.

However, according to a report from Reuters, errors were made in determining the size of those affected versus unaffected, which gave incredible advantage to the plaintiffs. The Judge decertified the class action status, stating that the plaintiffs failed to provide a model "capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke."

An expert hired by Apple showed the court "alarming" errors made in calculating the class size. For example, the number of plaintiffs was increased by using two names — Robert Pepper and Rob Pepper — even though their address and payment information were identical.

To reduce the size of unaffected users, the numbers were reduced by lumping together more than 40,000 payment records for people whose first name was "Kim," but were not the same person.

The lawsuit alleged that Apple had an unlawful App Store monopoly that prevented competition via third-party stores, and caused prices to be raised on apps sold in Apple's store. It's an argument that's been heard many times before, and this case seemingly went forward due to the escalating threat of a US DOJ antitrust suit in a similar timeframe.

However, given such obvious errors, the case had to lose its class-action status. There is no word on whether the lawsuit will attempt to push for class-action status again after this setback.

An Apple spokesperson shared a statement with AppleInsider on the matter.

"We're pleased the Court recognized the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate the alleged harm to consumers and decertified the class. We continue to invest significantly to make the App Store a safe and trusted place for users to discover apps and a great business opportunity for developers."

The lawsuit started in December 2011 and has failed to gain traction at every turn. It is estimated that the class-wide damages could total billions of dollars.