Apple Inc. has failed to overturn a judge’s finding that it defied a court order, but it did gain a renewed opportunity to argue that it deserves some level of compensation from developers for purchases completed outside the App Store ecosystem.
In the latest chapter of Apple’s years-long clash with Epic Games Inc., the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected Apple’s attempt to challenge an April ruling. That earlier decision held that Apple willfully ignored a court order after being found to have violated California’s competition laws.
Still, the appellate court’s 54-page opinion wasn’t a complete loss for Apple. The judges instructed US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to revisit whether Apple should be allowed to charge a reduced fee for “linked-out” transactions — though not the 27% commission Apple attempted to impose initially.
“The district court used blunt force to ban all commissions, abusing its discretion,” the unanimous panel wrote. “Apple is entitled to some compensation for the use of its intellectual property that is directly used in permitting Epic and others to consummate linked-out purchases.”
Apple did not immediately issue a statement on the ruling.
The dispute between Apple and Epic, which began more than five years ago when the Fortnite developer accused Apple of stifling competition, continues to reshape the boundaries of App Store policy. In April, Judge Rogers found that Apple had deliberately sidestepped her 2021 injunction requiring the company to let developers guide users to alternative, lower-cost payment methods. Developers have long resisted Apple’s 15%–30% commission on in-app purchases.
The App Store remains a massive revenue engine for Apple. While the company does not break out App Store earnings, it said that more than $400 billion in developer commerce was facilitated through the platform in 2024. Mobile analytics firm Appfigures estimates that Apple earned roughly $10 billion in the US alone that year.
Following the 2021 trial, Rogers largely sided with Apple on federal antitrust charges but found that it violated California law — an outcome later affirmed by both the Ninth Circuit and the US Supreme Court. Apple eventually allowed developers to link users to web-based payment methods, yet introduced a 27% fee on revenue generated through those links. Epic responded by accusing Apple of undermining the spirit of the injunction with the new commission and additional link-placement restrictions.
