EU fines Apple $1.8 billion over music streaming competition
March 4, 2024
The European Union on Monday imposed an antitrust fine on technology giant Apple worth 1.8 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars).
The statement claims that the company has unfairly favored its own music streaming service over those of its rivals.
What was the reason for the fine?
“The Commission found that Apple applied restrictions to app developers, preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative, cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app,” the European Commission said in a statement.
“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”
Apple charges a 30% fee for sales made through applications on iOS operating systems. It also prohibits operating system applications from providing links to external sign-up pages to bypass the fee.
Apple is one of six major companies that have to comply with new EU competition regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by March 6.
In addition to Apple, the EU has launched several antitrust cases against major technology companies, including an investigation into Microsoft over its Teams messaging app bundling.
The bloc has also fined Google €8 billion in total in recent years, including a 2022 fine for having its Android phones favor the Google search engine.
Source: DW
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.