Apple will face a €500 million antitrust fine from the EU after Spotify complaint
The European Union plans to impose the first antitrust fine of about 500 million euros on Apple and ban certain App Store rules that the bloc believes restrict competition. The fine will be announced next month, and Apple could be fined up to 10% of its annual global sales, writes Bloomberg.
The investigation was launched after a complaint from the Swedish company Spotify Technology SA in 2019. Spotify argued that due to the restrictions imposed by Apple on the App Store, they had to raise the price of a monthly subscription to cover the additional costs.
In February 2023, the European Commission stated in an official indictment that such Apple rules are unnecessary and lead to higher prices for customers.
In 2022, Apple started allowing Spotify and other music services to redirect users to subscription websites, which avoided a 30% revenue decline for Apple and provided more options for consumers. However, Spotify said that the restrictions still exist and that the changes were insufficient and “for show.”
In response, the EU has adopted new rules aimed at preventing competition violations by tech giants. The law on digital markets, which comes into force in March 2024, will prohibit the largest tech companies from favoring their services over those of competitors.
