This (a policy of charging some devs more/less than others) isn't Apple bribing devs to not compete with them, and it isn't a series of shady backroom deals. It's a relatively straightforward and transparent price discrimination scheme, and I have a hard time imagining why this would put Apple at risk of an unfavorable antitrust ruling if the complete lack of any alternate app stores didn't.
Where I imagine Apple could get into trouble is if they systematically turned a blind eye to commission-dodging by specific entities as part of a trade to ensure their market dominance. Unlike Google, though, I'm not even sure which entities Apple could bribe that would risk looking like a trust.
>'s a relatively straightforward and transparent price discrimination scheme, and I have a hard time imagining why this would put Apple at risk of an unfavorable antitrust ruling if the complete lack of any alternate app stores didn't.
Like any discrimination case, it depends on the subject of discrimination and potential victims. So I would say that discriminating with the largest streaming service can be a way to lock out the rest of that market from competing properly.
>Where I imagine Apple could get into trouble is if they systematically turned a blind eye to commission-dodging by specific entities as part of a trade to ensure their market dominance
Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. There's no hard evidence but that's what would be subpoena'd in court.
Ironically enough, Google is the biggest smoke signal here. Since court cases reveal they have some sort of deal with Apple to power search. That deal + potential discrimination with Google submitted apps can lead to those exact issues Google is under fire for.
Where I imagine Apple could get into trouble is if they systematically turned a blind eye to commission-dodging by specific entities as part of a trade to ensure their market dominance. Unlike Google, though, I'm not even sure which entities Apple could bribe that would risk looking like a trust.