Supreme Court says Apple will have to face App Store monopoly lawsuit

The Supreme Court is letting an antitrust lawsuit against Apple proceed, and it's rejected Apple's argument that iOS App Store users aren't really its customers. The Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Apple v. Pepper, agreeing in a 5-4 decision that Apple app buyers could sue the company for allegedly driving up prices. "Apple's line-drawing does not make a lot of sense, other than as a way to gerrymander Apple out of this and similar lawsuits," wrote Justice Merrick Garland Brett Kavanaugh. Apple's argument that users of the App Store aren't Apple's customers was completely bonkers to begin with, and obviously solely designed in service of Apple's new services narrative. Remember - with the new Apple-as-a-Service, Apple's isn't really interested in just selling you a product - the company wants to milk you for all you're worth. Giving customers any sort of stronger position in the App Store and similar services only serves to detriment Apple's services story to Wall Street.