EU investigators are taking a broad look at Apple’s app ecosystem under the powerful rules. — AFP
Apple Inc’s revamped fees for app developers are under fresh scrutiny from European Union antitrust regulators amid concerns they could drive up costs for software makers.
European Commission watchdogs recently circulated a new round of questionnaires focusing on the iPhone maker’s "core technology fee” – a new charge of €0.50 (RM2.30) per installed app applied to developers, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The extra scrutiny comes as Silicon Valley bosses have urged incoming President Donald Trump to challenge EU efforts to rein in the alleged abuses of Big Tech, with Meta Platforms Inc. chief Mark Zuckerberg slamming the bloc’s fines as "almost a tariff” against American firms.
The December questionnaires to app developers are part of an ongoing investigation by the Brussels-based EU executive into Apple’s new fee structure, which the company introduced as an effort to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
Apple gave developers a choice to remain on the firm’s existing terms – which can impose a commission on app sales of as much as 30% – or take up the new structure, which lowers the commission but introduces other charges.
The people said EU regulators asked whether the re-jigged levies could be passed on to consumers, whether developers may have to tweak their own business models if they take up Apple’s new fee structure, and whether the firm’s prediction that the new system will help to reduce costs to developers is accurate.
The commission and Apple declined to comment.
The fresh audit could eventually lead to the commission ruling that Apple’s efforts to comply with the DMA are insufficient, and ordering the company to overhaul the terms for developers on its App Store in order to be compliant with the rules. The DMA imposes a raft of dos and don’ts for the world’s largest technology platforms, with fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue for violations.
EU investigators are taking a broad look at Apple’s app ecosystem under the powerful rules. The company is facing the risk of a hefty fine for thwarting efforts by third-party developers to steer users toward cheaper deals and offers outside of the App Store – another obligation under the new law.
This is in addition to a €1.8bil (RM8.30bil) EU penalty the firm was hit with last year, for making it hard for music streaming apps to offer cheaper deals. The Cupertino, California firm was also forced to open its highly-guarded iPhone payment chip to rival digital wallet applications in a separate probe.
But the EU’s future regulatory focus on the power of American tech firms could hit a snag. It currently has several ongoing cases into alleged abuses by tech giants that could be derailed by tensions with incoming US President Donald Trump, who stormed to election victory last year on a defiantly "America First” ticket.
As well as Apple, the EU is also nearing the end of an investigation that is expected to order Alphabet Inc’s Google to break up its hugely profitable advertising arm, Microsoft Corp remains under scrutiny over alleged abuses with its Teams video-conferencing app, and Meta, fresh from a €798mil (RM3.68bil) fine, is being investigated for its "pay or consent” model for Instagram and Facebook.
The most immediate dilemma for the EU however may be how to regulate Elon Musk’s sprawling social media platform X.
Musk was a key backer of Trump’s campaign, channeling more than US$274mil (RM1.23bil) into supporting Trump and his allies, and has since taken up a post heading the incoming administration’s new Department for Government Efficiency, tasked with reducing federal spending.
X remains under the EU’s microscope for failing to tackle illegal content, as part of the bloc’s Digital Services Act, which paves the way for fines of up to 6% of a firm’s revenue. – Bloomberg
