2020年经济学人 神仙打架:苹果vsEpic(2)（在线收听）

The Epic case may hinge on how the court defines the relevant market. In Apple’s eyes the App Store is part of a broader universe of digital platforms in which it can reasonably claim not to be a monopolist. Epic takes a narrower view, arguing that iPhones are a market unto themselves.

Epic案件的结果可能取决于法院如何界定相关市场。在苹果公司看来，苹果应用商店只是庞大数字平台的一部分，它可以合理地宣称自己不是垄断企业。Epic则持有狭隘的观点，它认为苹果手机本身就是一个市场。

Most lawyers think Apple had the better of the initial exchanges. The judge seemed unconvinced by Apple’s attempts to stop Epic from updating the iPhone version of the software behind “Fortnite”, which is licensed to other gamesmakers. But she reserved her strongest words for Epic, which she admonished for inviting trouble.

大多数律师认为，苹果公司在最初的几次交锋中占了上风。法官似乎并不相信苹果公司试图阻止Epic升级iPhone版“堡垒之夜”，因为这款游戏已经授权给了其他游戏开发者。但法官对Epic疾言厉色，她警告说Epic是在自找麻烦。

The case looks likely to go to a jury trial next year. With no clear precedent, big ramifications for the tech industry and the odds that the losing party will appeal, the dispute may end up in the Supreme Court.

这个案子看起来很可能在明年由陪审团审理。由于没有明确的先例、案子对科技产业影响重大、以及败诉方存在上诉的可能性，这场纠纷最终可能会在最高法院进行。

In the meantime, Apple is facing other pressures. Epic is being cheered on by fellow members of the “Coalition for App Fairness”, like Spotify, a music-streamer, and Match Group, owner of Tinder and other dating apps. In June, at Spotify’s urging, the EU opened an antitrust probe into the App Store, and David Cicilline, who chairs a committee in America’s Congress that examines antitrust issues, described Apple’s fees as “highway robbery” and lamented the lack of “real competition” on iPhones.

与此同时，苹果公司还面临着其它压力。Epic公司目前得到了“应用程序公平联盟”成员的支持，比如音乐软件公司Spotify和Tinder等其他约会应用的所有者Match Group。今年6月，在Spotify的敦促下，欧盟对苹果应用程序展开了反垄断调查。美国众议院司法委员会反垄断小组委员会负责人戴维·西西兰将苹果的收费行为描述成是“拦路抢劫”，并痛惜苹果手机上缺乏“真正的竞争”。

While it battles Epic in the courts, Apple may tweak its rules to placate some developers. It has done so on occasion in the past, for instance exempting Amazon from the 30% commission on in-app purchases for the e-commerce giant’s Prime Video streaming app. On September 25th, following criticism from Facebook, Apple announced a temporary waiver on the 30% fee on in-app purchases for companies that had been forced by the covid-19 pandemic to switch to online-only events.

尽管苹果在法庭上与Epic公司明争暗斗，但它可能也会为安抚一些应用开发商对应用商店规则进行调整。这样的行为过去也时有发生，比如，苹果曾免除电商巨头亚马逊旗下流媒体Prime Video内购的30%抽成。9月25日，受到Facebook指责的苹果公司宣布，针对那些因新冠疫情而被迫转向线上活动的公司，暂时免除它们应用内购的30%抽成。

Such concessions may be as far as Apple will go, at least willingly. When Steve Jobs launched the App Store in 2008, he didn’t think it would ever make much money. He was wrong. Although the company does not break out the platform’s financial results, it probably makes up the bulk of its services business, which accounts for nearly 20% of revenues—and rising, as iPhone sales slow. Seeing what a promising profit engine it has turned into, Apple’s late boss would doubtless have fought tooth and nail to hang on to it.

这样的让步可能已经是苹果所能做的极限了，至少它是自愿的。史蒂夫·乔布斯在2008年推出苹果应用商店时，并未想过它能赚到很多钱。但他错了。尽管苹果公司从未公布过应用商店平台的财政业绩，但它可能是苹果服务业务的主要组成部分。苹果公司的服务业务占总收入的近20%，而且伴随苹果手机销量缓慢，这一比重还在上涨。眼看着苹果应用商店变成了前途光明的利润引擎，这位已故的苹果老板必定会竭尽全力地坚持下去。