The European Union has fined Apple 1.84 billion euros for violating antitrust rules in the market for music streaming services on the iOS mobile platform.
The penalty focuses on the enforcement of Apple's anti-steering provisions, which impose limits on music streaming apps' ability to notify consumers of cheaper offers outside of Apple's App Store.
The iPhone maker has its own music streaming service, Apple Music, but rivals such as Spotify say the restrictions put them at a disadvantage compared to platform operators.
Today, the European Commission said this restriction prevents European consumers from making free choices.
“Apple's rules have resulted in harm to consumers,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said at a European Commission press conference announcing the decision. She said: “Vital information was hidden so that consumers could not use it effectively or make informed choices.
“Some consumers may have paid more because they didn't know they would pay less if they subscribed outside of the app. Others may have paid more for their favorite music streaming You may not have been able to contract at all because you couldn’t find a provider.”
“The European Commission found that Apple's rules do not provide consumers with important information about the price and functionality of the service. They are therefore necessary to provide the App Store on Apple's mobile devices. neither is it disproportionate, nor is it disproportionate,” she added. “Therefore, we consider these to be unfair trading conditions as they have been unilaterally imposed by a dominant company.”
This penalty follows Spotify's March 2019 antitrust lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Apple's App Store rules “deliberately limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of user experience,” and that the iPhone maker is a “player” that allows other app developers to develop apps. accused of intentionally putting people in a disadvantageous position. And the referee.”
Back in June 2020, the EU announced a formal antitrust investigation into the App Store. In doing so, some outside the Apple Store said they were concerned about conditions and restrictions the tech giant applies, such as anti-steering provisions that prevent developers from informing users of cheaper ways to pay for content. It may be distorted.
In April 2021, the European Commission accused Apple of operating the App Store in a way that distorts competition in the music streaming services market, formalizing the EU's formal objection. But almost two years later, the EU has refined its case, dropping earlier charges related to Apple's requirement that music streaming apps use its own payment processing technology and focusing entirely on anti-steering provisions. Published a revised appeal.
Last month, the FT reported that Apple was facing a €500 million antitrust fine over music streaming. However, the fines announced by the commission today are quite high.
The fine consists of a fine for Apple for breaching EU rules (approximately 40 million euros), plus a “lump sum” (i.e. 1.8 billion euros) to “compensate non-pecuniary damages”. added, Vestager said. It aims to influence consumers and achieve deterrence. ”
“The fines we impose today reflect both Apple's financial strength and the harm its actions have caused to millions of European users,” she added.
Apple responded to the European Commission's decision with a scathing blog post attacking the EU, saying that enforcement officials “have not uncovered any credible evidence of consumer harm and that “It ignores the realities of a growing market.”
This story is developing…keep us updated