China and the App Store
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The developer of an app removed from the App Store in China has filed a lawsuit challenging Apple's practices, seeking damages $420,000.
Apple has consistently caved to pressure from China and removed apps from the App Store in the region. In this case, it is alleged that the Bodyreader app was removed by Apple for reasons the developer found inconsistent.
According to Bloomberg, a Beijing intellectual property court has accepted a complaint from the Bodyreader developer. The publication describes it as an Epic Games-style lawsuit due to its scope, which concerns Apple's overall practices in the App Store.
In the specific case of Bodyreader, developer Beijing Bodyreader Technology Ltd claims that Apple removed its iPhone app in 2020. Apple reportedly said that the app, which aims to help children correct their posture, engaged in “unfair and fraudulent behavior” in some unspecified way.
The developer unsuccessfully appealed the decision, but then submitted an identical app under a new name. That app, Qilin Century, was accepted and remains available on the App Store in China.
As such, as well as seeking around $417,000 in damages and an apology from Apple, the developer is seeking to expand the case. The accusation is that Apple is engaging in unfair monopolistic behavior.
As part of this, the Bodyreader developer is also criticizing Apple’s 30% commission. He wants the court to follow Europe’s example and require Apple to allow third-party app stores.
What happens next
If the case is anything like the Epic Games v. Apple case, it won't last that long. Closed-door hearings began Thursday, November 7, 2024, and could wrap up in the next few days.
Apple's 30% commission issue was also contested in a 2021 lawsuit filed by an individual consumer, not a developer. Apple won that case in May 2024, though Apple then asked a Chinese court to change the wording of its decision.
This request to change the wording of an antitrust case it had already won was an unusual move that speaks to Apple's delicate situation with China. Apple asked for all references to it having a “dominant position” in the market to be struck out, apparently out of concern about how the ruling would be used against it.
For example, Bodyreader’s new lawsuit could benefit from the original ruling in accusing Apple of unfair monopolistic conduct. Apple may not be an actual monopoly, but a “dominant position” could still support such a claim.
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