The European Commission has reached a decision in its antitrust investigation into Apple‘s alleged favoritism of its platform over Spotify and other music platforms.
According to the decision, Apple was fined 1.8 billion euros for not informing users about payment services outside the App Store.
In 2019, Swedish company Spotify claimed that Apple was abusing its position and complained about its 30 percent commission fees. The music streaming service stated that Apple did not inform users about alternative payment services.
The EU accused Apple of abusing its dominant position in 2021 and narrowed the scope of the investigation last year.
Following this decision, Apple announced that it will appeal against the EU’s decision. In a statement from the company, it was stated that the decision was taken despite the lack of convincing evidence that consumers were harmed. In the statement, it was noted that Spotify, which has the world’s largest music platform, has met with the European Commission more than 65 times.
This is the first competition fine imposed on Apple by the EU. In 2020, the company was fined 1.1 billion euros in France as part of a competition case. After the appeal against this decision, this figure was reduced to 372 million euros.
