Information
On Monday, the European Union (EU) made a significant move by imposing a hefty €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) antitrust fine on Apple. The accusation against the tech giant revolves around its alleged favouritism towards its own music streaming service, potentially harming competitors in the process. The European Commission, responsible for enforcing competition rules in the EU, determined that Apple had placed restrictions on app developers, preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and potentially cheaper music subscription services that exist outside of the Apple ecosystem.
The crux of the matter identified by the EU was Apple’s imposition of a 30% fee on sales made through apps in the iOS operating system. This fee, coupled with restrictions on apps within the system preventing them from providing links to external sign-up pages to avoid this fee, was deemed anticompetitive. Apple is among six major companies required to comply with the new EU competition regulations outlined in the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by March 6. This regulatory framework aims to address anticompetitive behaviour, specifically in the digital sector.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, emphasized that the Commission had instructed Apple to remove anti-steering provisions and refrain from similar practices in the future. Despite the substantial €1.8 billion fine, Vestager noted that it only constituted 0.5% of Apple’s global turnover, describing it as resembling a mere “parking ticket.”
Source: AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa
Assessment
While this is relatively little for Apple in the grand scheme of things, it shows the EU’s willingness to punish large corporate companies that do not abide by their rules. While it is unlikely that Apple will change much in the way of its operating procedures, it is possible that in the future, it may look to allow more competition within the IOS. Additionally, changes such as types of charging ports have been significantly affected by EU legislation, almost certainly benefiting the end user.
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