The first week of litigation between Epic Games and Apple has come to an end, which brought a lot of new information about the work of the two companies. However, after the vice president of Xbox, Lori Wright testified about the company's earnings, the conflict flared up with renewed vigor.
Wright testified on Wednesday, where she spoke more about the differences between devices from Microsoft, as well as about what exactly the company makes money on. Wright's words caused bewilderment on the part of Apple, who demanded a judge to question the vice president's testimony due to incorrectly prepared court documents. Apple's lawyers drew attention to the fact that the documentation was not prepared in advance and the very statement of Wright about the allegedly unprofitable sale of Xbox consoles was not supported by any financial statements. Their statement said Microsoft "did not produce a report that could confirm (or refute) Wright's words."
Interestingly, Apple complained back in April about the irregular filing of court documents from Microsoft. Then, after the testimony of the same Lori Wright, Apple demanded to exclude them from the protocol precisely because of the late filing of documents. The company now claims that Wright "went beyond the scope of testimony" as there is no confirmation of her words.
Recall that the "war" of companies is waged around the profits and losses of Microsoft over the sale of consoles. Apple claims that their side never saw an accurate financial report on Xbox sales, which they say hinders a full review of the case. It is worth saying that Microsoft doesn't really share this information with Apple due to years of competition between the companies. Of course, Apple doesn't have a direct competitor to the Xbox, but the companies are tied together by a common market. That is why Apple's lawyers see the lack of the documentation they need as a way to hurt Microsoft's credibility in court.
Overall, the documentation of this high-profile case remains a big problem on both sides. From the very beginning of the process, all documents had to be published in the public domain in a special folder, however, as a result, this turned into a chaotic publication of many different documents, which were either published or seized back. Journalists had to literally copy every file in order not to miss anything. Of course, such a "movement" of documents is a normal practice, especially in such large-scale processes. Lawyers scrutinize every aspect and decide what to publish and what to hide as a trade secret, but this does not make the process between Epic Games and Apple any less chaotic.
During the trial, a lot of very different information was revealed, but now Microsoft will have to choose between an open process and the transfer of its own business secrets to its longtime rival. The company certainly wants Epic Games to win and will have to talk about the profitability of the Xbox if it helps win the case. Otherwise, Microsoft may be at an overly disadvantageous position.
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