EU fines Apple more than 1.8 billion euros in case opened by Spotify – 03/04/2024 – Market

The European Union sentenced Apple this Monday (4) to pay a fine of more than 1.8 billion euros (around R$10 billion) for preventing Spotify and other music streaming companies from offering device users of the North American company payment options outside the App Store.

The European Commission’s decision was triggered by a complaint made in 2019 by Spotify about this restriction and the 30% fees charged by Apple on the App Store.

The European Union’s competition watchdog said Apple’s restrictions constitute unfair trading conditions, a relatively new argument in an antitrust case and one also used by the Dutch counterpart in a 2021 ruling against Apple in a case brought by app providers. of dating.

The EU competition watchdog said it added an additional lump sum of 1.8 billion euros to the initial amount because a significant part of the damage caused by Apple’s conduct was non-monetary. The EU did not say what the initial value was.

“For a decade, Apple has abused its dominant position in the market for distributing music streaming apps through the App Store,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“They did this by preventing developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” he said.

Apple criticized the EU’s decision, saying it will challenge it in court.

“The decision was made despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm and ignores the reality of a market that is prosperous, competitive and growing rapidly,” Apple said.

“The main supporter of this decision — and the biggest beneficiary — is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation,” Apple said.

The Swedish company does not pay any commission to Apple, as it sells its subscriptions on its website and not in the App Store.

Vestager’s order for Apple to remove App Store restrictions echoes the same requirement under new EU rules, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which Apple will have to comply with from March 7.

Apple’s fine, however, is about a quarter of the €8.25 billion fines that the EU regulator imposed on Google in three cases over the previous decade.

In contrast to the music streaming case, Apple is trying to resolve another EU antitrust probe by offering to open up its mobile payment systems to rivals.