Apple could face criminal contempt charges over ‘Apple tax’ – Computerworld

These victories might well please some developers for a while. But they will likely come at a cost to platform security and ease-of-use and could generate confusion as consumers find themselves drawn to multiple stores, not all of which will prove to be as heavily curated or as secure as Apple’s.

For Apple, the consequences of the case could see billions wiped off its revenue as developers find sales outside of its store, and as it sees some of its App Store-related payments disappear. This will damage Apple’s services segment, and as that part of its business is important to keeping the company sailing in a difficult consumer hardware sales sea, it means the company will need to turn its ship.

What will Apple do?

Apple is not without resources. It still has its hardware, platform, and services, and may now choose to compete on more equal terms with external stores — though how that might be implemented is uncertain. In the short term, it seems most likely Apple will need to charge developers more for access to the developer resources it provides. One way the company might do this is to offer a “Pro” tier to developers who want to sell software or services via its own store or any store, or to charge fees for APIs that enable external services.