Investing.com - A recent ruling by a U.S. judge ordering Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to immediately open up its lucrative App Store to more competition represents the biggest win yet for app developers aiming to avoid paying fees the iPhone-maker, according to analysts at Jefferies.
In a decision late last month, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said that Apple had knowingly failed to comply with a 2021 injunction which was designed to give app firms more ability to drive consumers towards possibly cheaper payment options.
Apple and one of the tech giant’s executives were also referred to federal prosecutors for a potential criminal contempt investigation, with Gonzalez Rogers arguing that Apple had been purposefully misleading in order to "maintain a revenue stream worth billions" of dollars.
Gonzalez Rogers said Apple must end a new 27% fee it had imposed on app developers when Apple customers made purchases outside the App Store. Apple was also banned from using so-called "scare screens" which looked to keep consumers from using third-party payment options.
California-based Apple, which has denied being in violation of the court’s order, filed an appeal on Monday challenging Gonzalez Rogers’ decision.
In a note to clients, the Jefferies analysts said the latest developments in the court case -- which was first brought by Epic Games, the maker of the online video game Fortnite -- were the "biggest yet in favor of Epic" and had "sweeping implications for the entire app ecosystem".
The brokerage noted that giving consumers more non-App Store options will increase the number of steps needed to confirm payments, especially compared to Apple’s quick, one-tap option. But the analysts said that the savings for app developers, who had been charged fees by Apple, "more than makes up for it".
Epic Games is tipped to be the biggest winner from the changes, Jefferies said, adding that app advertising networks -- such as Applovin (NASDAQ:APP), Unity Software (NYSE:U), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) -- also stand be major beneficiaries. Subscription businesses like Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) may be bolstered as well.