A federal appeals court panel in San Francisco appeared skeptical of Alphabet Inc.’s argument that its competition with Apple Inc. in smartphones is sufficient to justify overturning a jury verdict that declared an illegal monopoly for Android apps.

Epic accused Google in a 2020 lawsuit of monopolizing how consumers access apps on Android devices and how they pay for transactions within apps.

Epic Games, on the other hand, is steadfast. It has urged the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the original verdict, accusing Google of running a "years-long strategy to suppress competition among app stores and payment solutions."