The European Commission opened the way, this Monday, June 24, for a giant fine against Apple, preliminary estimating that its App Store application store did not comply with the new EU competition rules – which the brand refutes to the apple, which could be forced to modify its operation.
“The App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), they prevent application developers from directing consumers to alternative distribution channels for offers and content”, estimates Brussels in a “ preliminary opinion”.
Apple has built its success on a closed ecosystem around the iPhone and iPad of which it controls all the parameters, citing security imperatives and increased user comfort – a philosophy in direct opposition to European competition rules. “In recent months, Apple has made a number of modifications to comply with the DMA (…) We are convinced that our plan is compliant” with the law, reacted the Californian group. “All developers in the EU have the opportunity to use the features we have introduced, including the ability to direct users to the internet to make purchases,” he argued.
The opinion published Monday, following the opening of an investigation on March 25, constitutes a first under the DMA’s new competition rules, which became binding at the beginning of March. Apple can now exercise its rights of defense by having access to the file and respond in writing to the preliminary conclusions.
If these were confirmed, the Commission would adopt a final decision of non-compliance by the end of March 2025. Apple could then be fined up to 10% of its global turnover – or more than 30 billion euros based on last year’s sales -, and even up to 20% in the event of repeated infringement… if the American giant did not modify the App Store in a manner deemed satisfactory by the EU. A daily penalty corresponding to 5% of daily income may also be imposed. Finally, dismantling offenders is a weapon of last resort. Under the DMA, “companies distributing their applications via the App Store must be able, free of charge, to inform their customers of cheaper alternative purchasing possibilities, be able to direct them to these offers and allow them to make purchases”, explains the Commission. Brussels believes that this is still not the case today, despite repeated warnings from the EU and changes made by Apple.
The previous Spotify
This is an old dispute between the American giant and the European competition watchdog. For similar reasons, the Cupertino group was fined 1.8 billion euros by the Commission at the beginning of March, following an investigation opened in June 2020 after a complaint from the music streaming platform Spotify .
Apple, which considers itself in compliance, has filed an appeal with the EU court to overturn this sanction which arises from antitrust rules already in force before the DMA. This new regulation, which allows us to act faster and stronger against competitive abuses by digital giants, was introduced to protect the emergence and growth of start-ups in Europe and offer more choice to consumers.
“We are determined to use the clear and effective toolbox of the DMA to quickly put an end to a saga that has already lasted for too many years,” declared the European Commissioner for Digital, Thierry Breton, accusing Apple of “crowding out innovative companies.
On March 25, the Commission launched another procedure targeting Apple for failing to fulfill its obligation to offer users an easy-to-access alternative to its Safari web browser. Due to the procedures initiated under the DMA, the European executive, however, closed an antitrust investigation, launched in June 2020, which targeted the fees charged to developers for each application downloaded and difficulties in accessing application stores alternatives. An investigation into Apple’s pricing on e-books and audiobooks remains ongoing.
In addition to Apple, the DMA applies to four other American giants – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft – but also to the social network TikTok, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, as well as to the Dutch hotel reservation platform Booking . Investigations targeting Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) have also been opened for non-compliance with the new regulations.