Apple’s App Store violates the European Union’s Digital Markets Act due to its questionable steering policies. If Apple is found guilty, the company faces up to 10% of Annual Global Revenue in fines.
The European Union Commission opened an investigation against Apple, Meta and Google earlier in March. Apple is the first to be charged under the DMA rules as preliminary findings have revealed the tech giant now faces fines due to its breach.
The DMA directs gatekeepers such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and others to enable app developers to ‘steer’ consumers to third-party apps that are usually free. However, installing a third-party app is not as smooth as it seems.
Users go through a lengthy process by opening the Settings app and accepting app installations, as the web browser usually indicates an error. Pop-ups are then shown in the browser. These pop-ups detail the risks of downloading a third-party app. Thus, this discourages potential users from downloading the app.
Apple’s App Store violation and its past breaches
Peter Ajemian, Apple’s Spokesperson spoke to The Verge, “Throughout the past several months, Apple has made many changes to comply with the DMA in response to feedback from developers and the European Commission.”
Ajemian states, “All developers doing business in the EU on the App Store have the opportunity to utilize the capabilities that we have introduced,” He continues, “including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete purchases at a very competitive rate.”
Apple could face fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue. However, the tech giant is no stranger to getting fined. In 2020, legal action was launched against Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay practices after Spotify filed an antitrust complaint. This lawsuit resulted in Apple paying over €1.84 billion in fines.
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