Apple along with EU are set to throwdown over antitrust regulators, with Apple saying it doesn’t need to make more changes to the App Store after being hit with formal charges following the treatment of music streaming rivals including Spotify.
A hearing that is set to take place, and Apple is insisting the EU wrongly accused it of illegal curbs preventing developers from steering users from the App Store.
The company is claiming it already addressed possible concerns over the last two years with changes that were meant to create a fair balance between Apple’s interests and app developers.
A revised charged sheet was handed to Apple from the EU in February, showcasing commission had narrowed the probe, but it continued to focus “on the contractual restrictions that Apple imposed on app developers which prevent them from informing iPhone and iPad users of alternative music subscription options.”
Spotify claims these anti-steering rules prohibit it and other developers “from telling consumer about any deals or promotions through their own apps.”
“These rules still exist today and Apple’s supposed changes in fact change nothing at all and are just for show. We support the European Commission and believe that the” charge sheet “addresses Apple’s unfair business practices.”
Spotify is one of Apple’s harshest critics, pressing the antitrust unit in the EU to spring into action, having complained about Apple taking an unfair cut of the subscription fees.
Earlier this year, Apple had a separate hearing following a second EU antitrust probe focusing on the tap-to-pay technology. It was argued that Apple abused the control over mobile wallets, limiting third party firms from providing services on iPhones.
Retailers have been asked many questions by regulators who have followed up, and have had to explore other payment solutions across mobiles. Issues were looked into in the February hearing however no remedies have been sorted yet.
Fines of as much as 10% of Apple annual sales are being faced by the company, if it fails to convince the commission of their arguments, and if antitrust regulators believe an infringement of EU rules occurred. So far, there is no legal deadline for the conclusion.
These probes comes as new EU rules have been reigned in to control how U.S. tech firms operate in the region. They were designed to work alongside antitrust powers, and aim to prevent the abuse of power in digital technology.
