Apple was fined a record by European Union (EU) antitrust regulators. This penalty was imposed due to restrictions imposed by Apple’s rules on the App Store on application developers such as Spotify. Here are the details of the news…
Spotify’s complaint cost Apple dearly: $2 billion
In the EU Commission’s press release on Monday, the investigation “Apple says it prevents music streaming app developers from fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside the app” and found that it blocked instructions to subscribe to such offers.
According to the report, this penalty is the EU’s Digital Markets ActIt preceded the enactment of , and forced Apple to make major changes to its app distribution rules. Margrethe Vestager, EU Vice-President for Competition Policy, stated that Apple has been abusing its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming applications through the App Store for a decade.
After Google, another blow to Apple! Is a record fine coming?
The ongoing EU antitrust case between Apple and Spotify seems to be concluded against Apple. In this sense, Apple may receive a record fine.
It was stated that Apple maintains this dominance by preventing developers from telling consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules, so Apple today More than €1.8 billion A fine was imposed.
Apple’s antitrust violation and its consequences
The Commission determined the penalty by taking into account the “duration and seriousness” of the violation, Apple’s total turnover and market value. The EU’s investigation began in 2020 and was announced after Spotify’s antitrust complaint criticizing Apple’s 30% commission and App Store rules.
In 2021, Apple announced that it is allowing developers to promote payment methods outside the iOS app through communication tools such as email. Then, in 2022, it allowed developers to add links to their own sites from within iOS apps.
However, this second change only applied to “reader apps” that provided digital content, and developers had to request “rights” to add external links. Apple has announced its plan to allow third-party app marketplaces for iPhone in the EU starting March 7 to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
This marks a significant change throughout Apple’s history and is part of its effort to comply with EU regulations. This development serves as a warning to other technology companies about similar practices and aims to encourage competition on digital platforms.
This penalty is important as it shows what kind of strategy technology giants will follow regarding application distribution and developer relations and how they will comply with EU regulations. How Apple will respond to this penalty and shape its future application policies will be a subject that the technology world follows carefully.
What do you think about the record fine Apple received? You can share your opinions in the comments section below.