Epic Fail: SCOTUS Rejects Apple’s Appeal In App Store Tyranny Case

Amid copyright problems with its Watch, Apple faces more problems this morning as it’s cash-cow App Store revenues could take a hit after The US Supreme Court refused to consider the tech giant’s appeal in an anti-trust case with Epic Games.

The decision will allow an appeals court ruling to go into effect that lets developers direct iPhone users to cheaper purchasing options outside of Apple’s system – a decision that will likely affect billions of dollars in revenue for the iPhone maker.

The company charges developers a commission of as much as 30% for digital goods and services sold through its App Store.

As a reminder, Epic lost its broader claim that Cupertino, California-based Apple was violating federal antitrust law, and the justices also rejected Epic’s appeal Tuesday.

But, as Bloomberg reports, The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals found last year that Apple violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by limiting the ability of developers to communicate about alternative payment systems.

The decision would let developers circumvent those commissions by including links to process payments on the web instead of within the Apple system – though the appeals court put that on hold while the Supreme Court appeal was pending.

And now, that stay is over…

AAPL’s share price is down 2.5% in early trading after this headline…

Last month, Epic won a jury trial against Google and its Play Store for apps on Android phones in a lawsuit mirroring its action against Apple. A federal judge still must determine what changes Google will have to make to its Play Store.