The head of Apple told the court that allowing third-party app stores into the iOS ecosystem would be terrible for users as much as his company.
CEO Tim Cook took to the stand on Friday during the final day of testimony in the ongoing Epic vs Apple trial.
During his session, he commented on what would happen if Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers ruled that Apple should open up iOS to third-party stores, Bloomberg reports. It has been speculated that Epic intends to bring its Epic Games Store to iOS, thought to be part of its motivation behind the current antitrust lawsuit.
The Epic vs Apple antitrust trial is over for now.
Having heard the final testimonies last Friday, including comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook, the court today wrapped up proceedings with some final back-and-forth regarding definitions of relevant markets and proposed remedies.
At the end of the four-hour session, both parties were allowed to make closing remarks, starting with Epic s counsel Gary Bornstein of law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore recognising the impact the case could have on the mobile games industry. Epic acknowledges that this is an important case, that there s an important set of conduct, and that a remedy. of the sort that Epic has requested would be important and significant, he began. But that is because the issue affects such a large number of consumers, such a large number of developers, and has persisted for such a long period of time.
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How easy would it be for customers to depart the walled garden, legal eagles ask economist
Matthew Hughes Fri 14 May 2021 // 17:18 UTC Share
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Epic Games lawyers had a chance to put Apple s expert witness through the wringer in the latest from its California bench trial.
Counsel for Apple called to the stand Lorin Hitt, an academic from the prestigious Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania.
Hitt – who had been selected as expert witness for Apple – questioned whether iOS was as effective at locking in users as previously claimed, citing a 26 per cent switch rate. He also debated whether users remained loyal to a platform because of switching costs, or because they simply like it.