By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Apple was hit with a 1.84 billion euro ($2 billion) antitrust fine from the EU on Monday, the first in its history and essentially a deterrent, for preventing Spotify and others Music streaming services to inform users of outside payment options. its App Store.
The European Commission’s decision was triggered by a 2019 complaint from Swedish music streaming service Spotify over the restriction and Apple’s 30% App Store fees.
The European Union’s law enforcement agency said Apple’s restrictions constituted unfair trading conditions, a relatively new argument in an antitrust case and also used by the Dutch antitrust agency in a ruling against Apple in 2021 in a case brought by dating app providers.
The fine is well above the 500 million euros that sources familiar with the matter told Reuters they expected the Commission to fine Apple.
The regulator said in a statement that it had added an additional lump sum of 1.8 billion euros as a deterrent to Apple and because a significant portion of the harm caused by Apple’s behavior was non-monetary, i.e. a total of 1.84 billion euros, or 0.5% of Apple’s total amount. global turnover.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said it was the first time the Commission had added a deterrent lump sum on top of an antitrust fine as a deterrent.
“For a decade, Apple has abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming applications through the App Store,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
“They did this by preventing developers from informing consumers about alternative and cheaper music services available outside the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” he said. she declared.
Vestager ordered Apple to remove the anti-steering provisions and refrain from similar practices in the future.
Apple criticized the EU decision, saying it would challenge it in court. A decision by the Luxembourg Tribunal, Europe’s second highest court, will likely take several years. Until then, Apple will have to pay the fine and comply with the EU order.
“The decision was made despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm and ignores the realities of a thriving, competitive and rapidly growing market,” the company said in a statement.
“The main supporter of this decision – and the biggest beneficiary – is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify owns the world’s largest music streaming app and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times over the past year. this investigation.” It said.
The Swedish company does not pay any commission to Apple because it sells its subscriptions on its website and not in the Apple App Store.
Vestager’s order for Apple to remove App Store restrictions echoes the same requirement under new EU tech rules known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which Apple must comply with on March 7.
Apple’s fine, however, represents about a quarter of the 8.25 billion euros in fines that the European regulator imposed on Alphabet’s Google in three cases over the previous decade.
Unlike the music streaming case, Apple is seeking to settle another EU antitrust investigation by proposing to open its tap-and-go mobile payment systems to competitors.
European regulators, who then sought feedback from competitors and users, will likely accept his offer without fining the company.
($1 = 0.9217 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
