Apple Faces Epic Games-Style China Lawsuit Over App Store Practices

A Chinese court has agreed to hear a lawsuit against Apple from Beijing Bodyreader, a developer seeking around $420,000 in damages after their children's posture correction app was removed from the App Store in 2020.

App Store Blue Banner Chinese Flag Feature
Bloomberg reports that the case – the first of its kind to be heard in Beijing's intellectual property court – bears similarities to Epic Games' 2021 lawsuit against Apple. Bodyreader claims Apple unfairly removed their app citing "dishonest" behavior, while also challenging the company's 30% commission on app purchases and its control over the iOS ecosystem.

According to court documents reviewed by Bloomberg, Bodyreader argues that Apple's enforcement of App Store policies is inconsistent. The developer notes that after their original app was removed, they successfully published an identical app under a different name, "Qilin Century," which remains available on the App Store. Closed-door hearings began Thursday and could conclude this week.

The hearing represents the first time Apple has been forced to defend its standard mobile platform practices against a Chinese developer. Earlier this year, Apple successfully fought off antitrust accusations from a Chinese consumer, but the company still went so far as to appeal to remove references to its market dominance from the ruling.

Bodyreader is seeking monetary damages, an apology, and a court declaration that Apple engages in unfair monopolistic behavior. The developer has also requested that Apple be required to allow third-party app stores and external payment links.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.3 Available as Soon as Today With These New Features

Monday January 27, 2025 6:35 am PST by
Update: Apple has released iOS 18.3. In its press release unveiling a new Black Unity Sport Loop for the Apple Watch today, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.3 is "upcoming." According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple Stores are being instructed to update the software on demo devices today, so iOS 18.3 should be released either today or within the next few days. Below, we recap everything new...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Finally Explains How to Install New Firmware on Your AirPods

Monday January 27, 2025 11:17 am PST by
Apple regularly releases new firmware for the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, but the company has historically provided limited information on how to initiate an update. That changed today, and Apple updated its AirPods firmware support page with more specific instructions. Prior to today, here's what Apple said on the subject: Firmware updates are delivered automatically while your...
iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 This Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public this week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
airpods pro purple

Apple Still 'Exploring' New AirPods With Tiny Cameras

Sunday January 26, 2025 7:52 am PST by
Apple continues to explore the idea of releasing camera-equipped AirPods in the future, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman only briefly mentioned the possibility of AirPods gaining tiny cameras, as part of his Power On newsletter intro this week, focused on Apple's future wearables ambitions. He did not explain what the cameras would be used for. The tiny cameras would not be...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Rumored iPhone 17 Air: Upgrade or Downgrade?

Saturday January 25, 2025 6:40 am PST by
After hanging on to my iPhone 14 Pro for a few years, I will likely upgrade to an iPhone 17 model this year. Typically, I only consider the Pro models, but the rumored iPhone 17 Air sounds intriguing. After reflecting on rumors, I have realized that upgrading to this device might not have as many compromises as I first thought. Of course, the iPhone 17 Air is not yet official. Apple should...

Top Rated Comments

sw1tcher Avatar
11 weeks ago
Let me guess, time for Apple to pull out of China?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
11 weeks ago
Well I for one appreciate the [S]hypocrisy[/S] irony of a state who runs on the principle of policing and controlling all information suing Apple for policing their own app store as "unfair monopolistic behavior"
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
winxmac Avatar
11 weeks ago
Apple may stop having an App Store for China and stop manufacturing iPhone models in China in the future...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
11 weeks ago

Apple may stop having an App Store for China and stop manufacturing iPhone models in China in the future...
I think Tim would drop the US before he dropped China. He loves China.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
11 weeks ago
Wow isn’t that a funny coincidence. Almost like the CCP was bankrolling Epic’s lawfare the whole time just to get this result so they could force their own CCP controlled store onto all devices.

Who could have seen this coming?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
11 weeks ago
It will likely lose as Apple’s marketshare in the region is 14%. The developer could release their app for LITERALLY anything else and have more users. :) Additionally, using monopolistic language has failed everywhere it has been attempted.

In the EU, they made up a new term, gatekeeper, carefully constructed to specifically affect the profits large US companies. That kind of thing wouldn’t work in China as they actually HAVE tech companies, still. Many that, due to the actions of the Chinese government, have ACTUAL controlling marketshare. Any court ruling that affects Apple would affect the non-Apple market far more.

(It could be that they released their app on the iPhone because the App Store fee is FAR LESS than the majority app stores charge! I saw a reference to 50% fee, but that was from an article a couple years ago. If that’s still the case, then this case has no chance in… China).

EDIT: I was so curious I looked for a more recent story and, yup, from this year in a story about Huawei considering raising their store commission from free to 20% “Rival Android store operators in China, such as Xiaomi, charge as much as 50 per cent on in-game purchases.”
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/telcos-media-tech/huawei-weighs-app-store-fees-it-surpasses-iphone-china
Yeah, of 50% is the norm for the big stores. I don’t see how a LOWER fee would be a problem. Maybe they’ll just have to be more transparent specifically to China, but I doubt they’ll be fining a percentage of what Apple makes AROUND THE WORLD. :) As I said above, they HAVE a healthy tech economy outside Apple and Google. The EU? Not so much.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)