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"Fortnite" logo on Apple device: The iPhone company has so far collected up to 30 percent of its income as a fee
Photo: CHRIS DELMAS / AFP
The app store is the key to apps on Apple devices.
In the question of how much Apple can control the services offered in the lucrative store, the tech group has now suffered a defeat.
A court ruled: Apple must also open its payment system to other app developers.
The background to this is a protracted dispute with the game developer Epic Games, who is responsible for the game "Fortnite", among other things.
A US judge concluded that Apple must lift some of the restrictions that affect the collection of payments from app developers through the app store.
As a payment method, the group has so far prescribed its own Apple Pay system and collects up to 30 percent of the app providers' income as a fee.
According to the current decision, Apple can no longer prevent developers from adding links to their apps that allow customers to make payments outside of Apple's own in-app purchase system.
The judge decided that Apple did not have a "monopoly" on the market for online gaming transactions.
Apple's share price is falling sharply
The dispute escalated when Epic integrated a different payment variant into a "Fortnite" game version in order to bypass the fee.
As a result, Apple removed the game from its app store.
Epic Games responded with several lawsuits.
The game developer had stated that Apple had created a closed system with its app store to control the one billion iPhone users and developers.
Apple had argued that the rules of the app store created a huge market in which users felt safe enough to buy apps from unknown developers.
The decision, which could have far-reaching consequences for the entire industry, depressed the share price strongly.
The company's papers lost around 2.5 percent within minutes.
At the end of August, Apple was still trying to save some of its market power - and announced concessions to developers.
According to this, app developers should be able to offer their customers alternative payment options outside of the official Apple platform, among other things.
apr / Reuters / AFP
