EU Likely to Sue Apple for Antitrust Regulation Violations

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Major foreign media reported on the 27th (local time) that the European Union (EU) antitrust authorities will officially file a lawsuit against Apple for violating antitrust regulations as early as this week.

According to sources, the EU Commission plans to sue Apple on antitrust charges following the claim by music streaming company Spotify that Apple has infringed fair competition through the App Store.

Depending on the outcome, Apple could be fined up to 10% of its global revenue.

The EU is currently conducting a total of four antitrust investigations against Apple, including the Spotify case.

In 2019, Spotify reported to the EU Commission that Apple was giving advantages to its own apps and disadvantaging third-party apps on the App Store. Spotify also claimed that Apple charges a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on app sales from developers who release apps on the App Store, which constitutes an antitrust law-violating "tax" and requires investigation.

In response, Apple stated in a 2019 blog post that Spotify was merely trying to maintain significant revenue collected from App Store customers without contributing anything to the app marketplace.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.