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UK Consumer Rights Group ‘Which?’ Apple was sued under competition law on behalf of about 40 million users of the iCloud cloud storage service.
the Class action suitApple, which is seeking £3 billion in damages (about $3.8 billion at current exchange rates), claims that Apple has violated competition rules by giving its cloud storage service preferential treatment and effectively locking people into paying for iCloud at “ Fraud.” Prices.
“iOS has a monopoly and control over Apple’s operating systems, and Apple should not use that dominance to gain an unfair advantage in related markets, such as the cloud storage market. But that is exactly what happened,” he wrote in a press release announcing the lawsuit. Before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
The lawsuit accuses Apple of encouraging users of its devices to subscribe to iCloud for photo storage and other data storage needs, while at the same time making it difficult for consumers to use alternative storage providers — including by not allowing them to store or back up all data. Their phone data with a third party provider.
“iOS users then have to pay for the service once their photos, notes, messages and other data exceed the 5GB free cap.”
The lawsuit also accuses Apple of overcharging UK consumers for iCloud subscriptions due to lack of competition. “Apple has raised the price of iCloud for UK consumers by between 20% and 29% across its storage tiers in 2023,” she wrote, saying it was seeking compensation for all affected Apple customers — and estimating that individual consumers may be owed an average of A pound sterling. 70 (about $90), depending on how long they have been paying Apple for iCloud services.
A similar lawsuit was filed in the United States, arguing that Apple illegally monopolized the cloud storage market Back in Marchand remains suspended after communion I failed to throw it.
UK based consumers have opted in
The UK claim is made on an opt-out basis for UK resident consumers who are eligible for inclusion. Consumers who live outside the UK and believe they are eligible for inclusion must actively sign up to join the measure.
Eligible Apple customers include “anyone who has acquired iCloud services, including non-paying users, over the nine-year time frame since the Consumer Rights Act went into effect on October 1, 2015,” spokesman Tommy Handley told us.
Handley also confirmed that the £3bn payout figure accounts for potential opt-outs, redundancies and deaths.
It is a non-profit organization but the litigation is being funded by Litigation Capital Management (LCM), a major global funder of litigation, which says it is committed to seeing the case through to the end.
Meanwhile, Apple is urging the claim to be resolved without the need for litigation — by returning consumers’ money and opening up iOS to allow users a “real choice” of cloud services.
Commenting, Annabelle Holt, CEO of WHITCH, said: “By making this claim, what? It shows big companies like Apple that they cannot rip off UK consumers without facing repercussions. Taking this legal action means we can help Consumers receive the compensation they are owed, deter similar behavior in the future and create a better, more competitive market.
Assuming Apple does not seek to settle out of court, the next phase of litigation will depend on whether CAT grants permission to Who to serve as a class representative for consumers and allows the claim to proceed on a class basis.
There has been an uptick in class action-style competition lawsuits against big tech companies in recent years following a wave of antitrust actions on both sides of the Atlantic that are still ongoing in terms of their full implications and business impact.
In the UK, Apple was also targeted in an antitrust class action lawsuit filed on behalf of developers last year, regarding App Store fees.
Also last year, a separate lawsuit in the UK targeted Apple and Amazon for alleged price collusion.
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