Violation of competition law: The EU Commission has imposed a billion-dollar fine on the tech group Apple.
The EU Commission has imposed a competition fine of 1.8 billion euros on the US tech giant Apple. The Brussels authority said on Monday that the company had abused its dominant market position by selling music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users via its app store.
The punishment is therefore significantly higher than expected. The Financial Times reported in February that Apple was facing a fine of around 500 million euros. Specifically, the question was whether Apple, as the operator of the App Store, had distorted competition in the music streaming market or not. The world’s largest streaming provider Spotify has been complaining for years that Apple prefers its own Apple Music service and prevents competitors from offering Apple users alternative ordering and payment options for music subscriptions.
Both sides are arguing about whether taking out a paid subscription via the Spotify app can be prohibited if Spotify does not want the iPhone manufacturer to share in sales.
Apple had denied allegations
Apple rejected the allegations. The EU Commission has presented “no credible evidence of harm to consumers”. Market leader Spotify will particularly benefit from the decision, the company explained.
Apple emphasized in February that business had developed exceptionally well for Spotify since the first complaint in Europe in 2013. With a market share of 59 percent, the Swedes are now leading – ahead of Amazon Prime Music with 18 percent and YouTube Music with nine percent. Apple is only in fourth place with eight percent market share. It is noteworthy that the share of Spotify on Apple smartphones is even higher than on Android devices.