You don’t get bigger witnesses when it comes to an Apple trial than Tim Cook. Cook, the 10-year CEO of Apple, will today take the stand in the ongoing court case pitting Apple against Fortnite maker Epic.
With the trial expected to end Monday, Cook’s Friday testimony will be a “One more thing” event as Apple’s lawyers attempt to dismantle Epic’s case (and vice versa on the part of Epic’s legal team).
The Wall Street Journal notes that:
“Mr. Cook is expected to emphasize how much economic value Apple’s investment in the app economy has created for developers, which fits into claims from Apple’s lawyers that its fees are fair. Apple has told the court he will speak about the company’s values and discuss its business, operations and competition, as well the history of the App Store’s creation.
His testimony will be closely monitored well beyond the courtroom as Apple faces increasing threats from lawmakers and regulators around the world examining the power it has over third-party software developers.”
While Apple has been in plenty of legal skirmishes during Tim Cook’s reign at Apple, this will reportedly be his first time testifying in a trial. He may have been called in Apple’s court case with Qualcomm, but this was ultimately settled before it went to court.
In addition to Cook, Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store, has also testified in the Apple vs. Epic case. On the other side of the aisle, Tim Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of Epic, gave testimony early on.
Apple vs. Epic
Apple and Epic’s battle commenced in August 2020 when Epic established a way to let users circumvent the App Store to buy Fortnite in-app purchases. This was intended to save Epic from having to pay Apple the 30% cut it demands via the App Store. Apple immediately made the call to boot Fortnite from the App Store. Epic immediately responded with a lawsuit taking aim at Apple for its allegedly monopolistic behavior.
Apple’s argument is that there are more ways than the App Store for Epic for distribute Fortnite. It also argues these platforms take a similar cut to the one Apple demands. Epic, for its part, argues that Apple makes an enormous amount of money from the App Store off the back of developers’ hard work. According to internal emails, Epic lawyers suggest Apple makes an almost 80% profit margin from the App Store.
