The competition reported Apple. The iPhone manufacturer faces a fine of EUR 539 million
The European Union may fine Apple as much as EUR 539 million for monopolistic activities. Another industry giant reported unfair competition.
Apple is one of the richest companies in the world, but even it will certainly feel such a huge penalty. And it may be as much as EUR 539 million, i.e. over PLN 2.3 billion.
The iPhone manufacturer found itself in the crosshairs of the European Union's antitrust authorities, who decided to look into the company's activities in the field of its software ecosystem.
This is the result of a complaint filed against the Cupertino giant by Spotify, which with its music streaming application is forced to compete with the Apple Music service.
EUR 539 million fine for Apple
The Financial Times reported the huge fine for Apple, citing anonymous, supposedly trusted sources in this case. The decision on this matter is to be made at the beginning of March, but apparently the matter is already decided and the giant from Cupertino will have to atone financially for its unfair actions.
Spotify has filed a complaint with the EU due to the monopolistic practices of Apple, which in its ecosystem allegedly favors Apple Music, i.e. Spotify's direct competition. According to the Swedish company, the iPhone manufacturer provides better exposure for its own service, which prevents competitors from competing on equal terms.
Moreover, the Swedes drew the European Union's attention to the fact that Apple is doing everything to ensure that the most convenient and, in fact, the only way for iPhone users to pay for Spotify is through the App Store, which charges commissions and may set inflated subscription prices. This, in turn, is intended to prevent Spotify from competing with Apple Music on price.
This whole matter has been going on since 2019, because it was then that Spotify reported Apple's unfair practices to the EU. There are many indications that this will probably result in the above-mentioned fine of EUR 539 million.
For Apple, this amount is only a fraction of its annual turnover of EUR 350 billion, which does not change the fact that probably no company, even the richest, would wish to receive such a huge fine.
