The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the blocB次元官网网址檚 competition laws by over rivals.
Apple muzzled app developers from telling users where they could go to pay for cheaper music subscriptions instead of paying through iOS apps, said the European Commission, the 27-nation blocB次元官网网址檚 executive arm and top antitrust enforcer.
B次元官网网址淭his is illegal. And it has impacted millions of European consumers who were not able to make a free choice as to where, how and at what price to buy music streaming subscriptions,B次元官网网址� Margrethe Vestager, the EUB次元官网网址檚 competition commissioner, said at a news conference in Brussels.
Apple B次元官网网址� which said it contests the decision B次元官网网址� behaved this way for a decade, resulting in B次元官网网址渕illions of people who have paid two, three euros more per month for their music streaming service than they would otherwise have had to pay,B次元官网网址� she said.
The 1.8 billion-euro fine follows an investigation triggered by a five years ago. Since then, the EU has drawn up new regulations taking effect this week to prevent tech giants from cornering digital markets.
The EU has led global efforts to , including three totaling more than 8 billion euros and with distorting the online classified ad market.
Apple, meanwhile, also is trying to resolve a separate EU antitrust investigation into its mobile payments service by promising to to rivals.
The fine for the music streaming investigation is so high because it includes a big extra lump sum to deter Apple from offending again and to act as a deterrent to other tech companies from carrying out similar offenses, the commission said.
Apple hit back at both the commission and Spotify, saying it would appeal the penalty.
B次元官网网址淭he decision was reached despite the CommissionB次元官网网址檚 failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast,B次元官网网址� the company said in a statement.
It said Spotify stood to benefit from the EUB次元官网网址檚 move, asserting that the Swedish streaming giant that holds a 56% share of EuropeB次元官网网址檚 music streaming market and that doesnB次元官网网址檛 pay Apple for using its App Store met over 65 times with the commission during the investigation.
B次元官网网址淚ronically, in the name of competition, todayB次元官网网址檚 decision just cements the dominant position of a successful European company that is the digital music marketB次元官网网址檚 runaway leader,B次元官网网址� Apple said.
Spotify said it welcomed the EU fine, without addressing AppleB次元官网网址檚 accusations.
B次元官网网址淭his decision sends a powerful message B次元官网网址� no company, not even a monopoly like Apple, can wield power abusively to control how other companies interact with their customers,B次元官网网址� Spotify said in a blog post.
The commissionB次元官网网址檚 investigation initially centered on two concerns. One was the iPhone makerB次元官网网址檚 practice of forcing app developers that are selling digital content to use its in-house payment system, which charges a 30% commission on all subscriptions.
But the EU later dropped that to focus on how Apple prevents app makers from telling their users about cheaper ways to pay for subscriptions that donB次元官网网址檛 involve going through an app.
The investigation found that Apple banned streaming services from telling users about how much subscription offers cost outside of their apps, including links in their apps to pay for alternative subscriptions or even emailing users to tell them about different pricing options.
B次元官网网址淎s a result, millions of European music streaming users were left in the dark about all available options,B次元官网网址� Vestager said, adding that the commissionB次元官网网址檚 investigation found that just over 20% of consumers who would have signed up to SpotifyB次元官网网址檚 premium service didnB次元官网网址檛 do so because of the restrictions.
The fine comes just before are set to kick in that are aimed at preventing tech companies from dominating digital markets.
The Digital Markets Act, due to take effect Thursday, imposes a set of doB次元官网网址檚 and donB次元官网网址檛s on B次元官网网址済atekeeperB次元官网网址� companies including Apple, Meta, Google parent Alphabet, and TikTok parent ByteDance B次元官网网址� under threat of hefty fines.
The DMAB次元官网网址檚 provisions are designed to prevent tech giants from the sort of behavior thatB次元官网网址檚 at the heart of the Apple investigation. Apple has already revealed how it will comply, including other than its own and enabling developers to offer alternative payment systems.
Vestager warned that the commission would be carefully scrutinizing how Apple follows the new rules.
B次元官网网址淎pple will have to open its gates to its ecosystem to allow users to easily find the apps they want, pay for them in any way they want and use them on any device that they want,B次元官网网址� she said.
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