In a high-stakes antitrust dispute over whether the virtual wall enclosing the iPhone’s app store improperly enriches the most valuable company in the world while stifling competition, Apple is set to square off in court with the maker of the popular Fortnite video game.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Monday from three judges in the latest round of the legal conflict involving an app store that supports more than 1 billion iPhones and is a cornerstone of Apple’s $2.4 trillion business empire. It’s a dispute that won’t be resolved for a very long time. The appeals court isn’t anticipated to make a decision for another six to twelve months after hearing the arguments on Monday in San Francisco. Because the matter is so crucial to both businesses, the losing party is likely to appeal the case to the US Supreme Court, which could drag on into 2024 or 2025.
