Brussels fines Apple €1.8 billion for restricting other platforms such as Spotifyfy
The European Commission has decided to impose a fine of 1.8 billion euros on Apple because it believes violated EU legislation by limiting consumers’ choice of music streaming services.
As explained Competition Commissioner, Danish Margrethe Vestager, Apple abused its dominant position in the distribution of music streaming apps through its App Store in a way that prevented consumers from making informed decisions in favor of cheaper alternatives, including platforms such as Spotify.
This is the case “abuse of exploitation” when one company uses its market power to impose unfair trading conditions on others to the detriment of consumers. Vestager admitted that Apple had recently announced hundreds of changes to its business model, but they had not convinced him that they were going to comply with the recently passed European digital services law.
“For decades, Apple has abused its dominant position. in the streaming music market through its App Store,” Vestager warned at a press conference announcing the sanctions. According to this view, Apple prevented developers from informing consumers about “alternative and cheaper offerings available outside the Apple ecosystem,” which it said was not only illegal, but also had an economic impact on “millions of consumers.” could not “freely choose” which services to hire.
Impact on millions of consumers
Danish policy insists that developers do not inform consumers about “alternative and cheaper offerings available outside the Apple ecosystem.” It’s not only “illegal” but it had an impact on “millions of European consumers” who could not “freely choose” which services to contract.
The case dates back to 2022.when Brussels accused the company of acting as a “guardian” of app access and abusing its dominant position in the streaming music distribution market.
The American multinational corporation responded with a statement refuting the arguments of the European Commission and states that “Spotify does not pay Apple anything for its services who have helped you create, update, and share your app with Apple users in 160 countries. “Essentially, their demand is to try to get unlimited access to all of Apple’s tools without paying anything for the value that Apple provides.”
Apple may appeal this sanction before the European Court, which has the final say. As for users, the commission’s decision does not imply that Apple is obliged to return the money they overpaid, but believes that this sanction can be used as reasoned evidence if they want to sue the multinational company.