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The European Commission is going to impose a fine apple around 500 million euros ($539 million) for alleged violations of EU competition law; the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
Brussels initially launched an investigation into claims that Apple blocked third-party music services on its devices and favored its own Apple Music service, after Spotify filed a formal complaint with regulators in 2019.
In most regions, Apple’s App Store rules prohibit companies like Spotify from charging users for subscriptions directly within the app, forcing them to use Apple’s App Store billing service, which takes up to 30% off.
Brussels formally charged Apple in an anti-competition investigation in 2021, but narrowed the scope of the investigation last year, dropping the charge of pushing developers to use its own in-app payments system.
The latest edition of the investigation focused on whether Apple had restricted apps from telling users about cheaper alternative subscriptions outside of its native App Store and therefore breached EU competition laws.
The investigation’s findings will lead to the commission charging Apple with abusing its powerful position and banning “unfair trading terms” over its subscription policies for music services, sources told the FT.
If imposed, the fine would be one of the most significant financial sanctions the EU has imposed on a major technology company. Following is a series of large contested fines against Google.
While Apple has faced fines for antitrust behavior in the past — such as a €1.1 billion fine in France that was later reduced to €372 million on appeal — this would be its first fine from Brussels.
The reported fine is part of a wider crackdown in the EU and comes ahead of the bloc’s landmark digital markets law set for March. The new law aims to tackle anti-competitive practices by big tech players considered “gatekeepers”, including companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google.
Smaller Internet companies and other tech businesses, such as Spotify, have long complained that they are unfairly constrained by the tech giant’s business practices.
In Apple’s case, the Digital Markets Act will require it to allow third-party developers to distribute apps outside of the iOS Store and for those apps to charge their customers directly.
Apple has made moves to address EU regulations by announcing changes to iOS, Safari and the App Store in the EU, and announced that it will soon allow software developers to distribute their apps on Apple devices through alternative stores.
In a separate antitrust case, the European Commission is looking into how Apple restricts competitors from accessing its Apple Pay mobile system. Apple has already made concessions in relation to the case.
The timing of the Commission’s announcement of the fines has yet to be determined, but it will not change the direction of the antitrust investigation, according to the FT report.
Apple has the right to appeal the ruling in EU courts. The tech giant declined to comment on the report, referring CNBC to an earlier statement that it was pleased regulators narrowed the focus of the investigation.