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The EU imposed a competition fine of 1.8 billion euros on Apple. The group abused its dominant market position. Apple wants to take legal action against it. The background is a dispute with Spotify.
The EU Commission has imposed a fine of 1.8 billion euros on the iPhone manufacturer Apple. The US company abused its dominant market position by selling music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users via its app store, the Brussels authority said.
Apple imposed restrictions on app developers that prevented them from informing Apple users about other and cheaper music subscription services. “This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” the Commission argued.
The music streaming service Spotify and Apple have been arguing for years. The EU Commission criticized in 2021 that the sales of subscriptions in the apps had to be processed via Apple’s payment platform if the app was downloaded via Apple’s App Store. The group keeps 30 or 15 percent of the income.
The company criticizes the evidence
Apple argues that the decision was made even though the Commission could not find any solid evidence that consumers had been harmed. A large part of Spotify’s success is due to the App Store.
Since the launch of the download platform in 2008, Apple has generally taken a 30 percent levy on revenue from digital items or services such as subscriptions. For subscriptions that last longer than a year, the commission drops to 15 percent – even for developers who earn less than a million dollars a year.