The European Union officially put its Digital Markets Act into full enforcement in late 2022. Today, the EU"s regulatory body, the European Commission, has named Apple as the first company that it believes violates the DMA with its App Store rules.
This conclusion follows the EC"s decision in March to launch a probe into several major tech companies, including Apple, to see if they had broken the rules of the DMA.
Today, in a press release, the EC announced that Apple"s App Store rules do not allow developers to sufficiently steer consumers to alternative ways to get apps for iOS devices. It stated:
Under most of the business terms available to app developers, Apple allows steering only through “link-outs”, i.e., app developers can include a link in their app that redirects the customer to a web page where the customer can conclude a contract. The link-out process is subject to several restrictions imposed by Apple that prevent app developers from communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice.
This is a preliminary decision by the EC, which means Apple can look at the agency"s documents on its investigation and write a defense for its Apple Store actions. If this preliminary decision is upheld, Apple could face fines of up to 10 percent of its total worldwide turnover.
Apple got some more bad news from the EC today. The agency has launched more investigations into the company"s iOS policies to see if they violate the DMA as well. They include looking into Apple"s Core Technology Fee of 50 euro cents for any app downloaded from a third-party app store. It will also investigate if Apple"s requirements for establishing third-party app stores for iOS products, which the company set up in January, are, in fact, in violation of the DMA.