Brussels is set to charge Apple over allegedly stifling competition on its mobile app store, the first time EU regulators have used new digital rules to target a Big Tech group.
The European Commission has determined that the iPhone maker is not complying with obligations to allow app developers to “steer” users to offers outside its App Store without imposing fees on them, according to three people with close knowledge of its investigation.
↫ Javier Espinoza and Michael Acton
This was always going to happen for as long as Apple’s malicious compliance kept dragging on. The rules in the Digital Markets Act are quite clear and simple, and despite the kind of close cooperation with EU lawmakers no normal EU citizen is ever going to get, Apple has been breaking this law from day one without any intent to comply. European Union regulators have given Apple far, far more leeway and assistance than any regular citizen of small business would get, and that has to stop.
The possible fines under the DMA are massive. If Apple is found guilty, they could be fined for up to 10% of its global revenue, or 20% for repeated violations. This is no laughing matters, and this is not one of those cases where a company like Apple could calculate fines as a mere cost of doing business – this would have a material impact on the company’s numbers, and shareholders are definitely not going to like it if Apple gets fined such percentages.
As these are preliminary findings, Apple could still implement changes, but if past behaviour is any indication, any possibly changes will just be ever more malicious compliance.
“Apple set to be first big yech group”
First big what?!?!?
This is just my opinion from a business view. I really don’t understand this. The cost to self publish, create packaging, buy and sell physical media for software was astronomical before the 2000’s. Physical boxes and software disks, media and manuals cost a lot of money to make, Apple just provides a better way with no physical media now. I just wonder how long it will take before all these alt app stores suddenly realize that running an app store on physical servers, with actual bandwidth costs real money. money that they will have to eventually charge back to these developers who think its going to be free-for-all now because they tacked on the word ALT onto some store.
Once those apps in alt stores start getting millions of downloads for a peticular app (cough.. fornight..).. how long until every alt app store and app is running the “become a patreon” or donate” to keep us in business start happening. Someone has to pay for the alt store bandwidth, account information, and file storage,
What I SUPER hope happens is that apple just allows every app store that wants to exist on a iphone just exist, but limit the use of xcode or any apple development publishing tools for use on apples official app stores only. Apple spent billions on their development tools, and deserve to get paid too. Everyone seems to forget apple is also software company that spend billions in r&d and is trying to recoup their money too.. Once those devs have to build everything from the ground up in some paid IDE, all the complaining would hopefully stop. However, the entire conversation on the internet then would just be how apple took every ones toys away.
I also super hope that in 4 years time the big headlines are all the alt stores that are closing or going out of business because data and privacy is non-existent and that apple was probably right the way they were handling things.
“trying to recoup”
Oh, poor Apple. They have such a hard time making money. Do you have stocks or where is this utterly illogical reasoning coming from?
Waldo3,
This fails to address any of apple’s anti-competitive problems today. It makes no difference what physical media or servers cost, that does not justify being forced to go through apple and depriving consumers of the right to choose 3rd party apps and stores. Apple are free to compete though merit, that’s not an antitrust problem, but their deliberate restrictions to block consumers from going elsewhere are.
You’re free to publish your app on the google play store or on the Microsoft app store. No one is stopping you. Total freedom to do so if you don’t like the way apple runs the show. I think most alt app stores will just fail, because no one will trust them.