In the lawsuit with Epic, Apple introduced the reasons why it did not plan to introduce iMessage to the Android camp. The reason why millions of Android users cannot use this app is to lock the ecosystem and users. Before the trial, both Epic and Apple submitted relevant documents to the court and disclosed the information in the documents.
Epic’s lawyers questioned why Apple did not introduce iMessage to the Android system and believed that this was done to lock iPhone users. Apple executive Eddy Cue testified that Apple could have launched iMessage on the Android platform to achieve cross-compatibility. However, in court documents, many senior Apple officials and employees, including Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi, opposed the introduction of the service to the Android system.
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58. Apple has recognized the power of iMessage to attract and retain users in its ecosystem.
- As early as 2013, Apple decided not to develop an iMessage version for the Android operating system. (Hint Dep.92:22-93:1).
- Mr. Cue testified that Apple “could have made a version on Android that worked with iOS”, so that it would be “cross-compatible with the iOS platform so that users on the two platforms could seamlessly exchange information with each other.” (Cue Dep. 92:5-9; 92:11-16.)
- However, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering and an executive in charge of the iOS system, is concerned that “iMessage on the Android system is just to eliminate [a] barrier to the use of Android phones by the iPhone family for children ”. PX407, in ‘122.
- Phil Schiller, Apple’s executive in charge of the app store, agreed that Apple should not provide iMessage on Android devices. (Cue Dep. 92:18-93:1.)
- In 2016, when a former Apple employee commented that “the first and most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple Universe app is iMessage…iMessage is equivalent to a serious lock in the Apple ecosystem”, Mr. Schiller commented Say, “Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us rather than help us. This email explains why.” (PX416, at ‘610; Cue Dep. 114:14-115:2.).
After reading these statements, it can be considered that Apple’s decision to restrict iMessage to the iPhone is a strategic move, not a reservation to prevent any harm. This can help strengthen Epic’s reasoning that Apple has adopted unfair business practices against developers, but this is not illegal.
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