A PYMNTS Company

EU: Vestager considering Apple probe

 |  March 18, 2019

The European Union’s competition watchdog is considering opening a probe of Apple over allegations that it uses its app store to gain an advantage on its own services over rivals’, Vestager said last week.

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, told German newspaper Tagesspiegel her watchdog would examine if there were parallels with Google, which in 2017 was fined over 2 billion euros for unfairly disadvantaging rivals on its platform.

“We have to examine the role of Apple and Apple’s app store,” she was quoted as saying. “If we conclude that they have a market-dominating position, then the case would be comparable to our proceedings against Google.”

The EU’s consideration of a possible probe of Apple comes after music streaming service Spotify filed a complaint against the iPhone maker, saying it was unfairly limiting rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.

Full Content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.