A U.S. federal judge decertified on Monday a class action lawsuit involving tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the iPhone app market by prohibiting purchases outside its App Store, which they claimed drove up prices.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 ruling that had certified the class, allowing Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on apps or in-app content over the previous 17 years to sue collectively.
Jonathan Stempel for Reuters:
In decertifying the class, Rogers said the plaintiffs failed to provide a model “capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke” by matching Apple accounts to consumers, while limiting the number of “unharmed” consumers in the class.
She ruled after an expert hired by Cupertino, California-based Apple found “alarming” errors in the plaintiffs’ model.
These included one that named plaintiff Robert Pepper and supposed claimant “Rob Pepper” were different people despite sharing home addresses and credit card information. They also included the lumping together of more than 40,000 payment records for people whose first name was “Kim,” but who otherwise had nothing in common.
Mark Rifkin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email “we are of course disappointed” with the decision, and are reviewing their next legal steps to protect consumers “harmed by Apple’s unlawful App Store monopoly.”
Apple said it was pleased with the decision, and that it invests “significantly” to make the App Store “a safe and trusted place for users to discover apps and a great business opportunity for developers.”
MacDailyNews Take: Time to start looking for the next ambulance, Rifkin.
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