Australian Court Rules Apple, Google Broke Competition Rules

An Australian court has ruled that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) engaged in anti-competitive conduct in the app market, marking a partial win for Fortnite maker Epic Games.

The Federal Court found the two tech giants abused their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition, a move Judge Jonathan Beach said likely led to higher commission fees for developers. The ruling means Epic's store and Fortnite will come to iOS in Australia, though the court rejected Epic's claims of consumer law violations or unconscionable conduct.

Google welcomed the rejection of some demands, like distributing rival app stores within Google Play, but disagreed with the court's view of its billing practices. It also stressed the openness of Android compared to Apple's closed system. Apple said it strongly disagreed with parts of the ruling, maintaining it faces fierce competition and that the App Store is the safest platform for users.

The decision also upheld two class actions against both companiespotentially setting up one of the largest corporate payouts in Australian history.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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