Apple fires back at duopoly claims in precursor to Epic trial
The iPhone giant's competition lawsuit with Fortnite-maker Epic Games is trickling down into parliamentary inquiries, and could have implications for the trial next year.
Apple vice president for products and regulatory law, Kyle Andeer, wasted no today time in rejecting claims of an Australian duopoly between Apple and Google in smartphone app marketplaces.
Labor Senator Jess Walsh had asked Andeer for his view on the "basic finding of a duopoly" by Australia's competition regulator, the ACCC, as part of a five-year probe into digital platforms.
"I do reject that," Andeer said, pointing to US court findings in Epic Games' antitrust dispute against the iPhone maker, which concluded Epic had not shown that Apple has monopoly power.
Walsh's questions were part of the Senate Economics References Committee's ongoing inquiry into the influence of international digital platforms on Australia's economy.
