After eight months of scrutiny, the European Union has concluded that iPadOS also has great market power. iPadOS will also be made DMA compliant.
The European Union continues to confront companies that are characterized as “gatekeepers” and have great influence over a market. “The Commission has concluded that iPadOS represents an important gateway for business users to reach end users and that Apple has a well-established and durable position in terms of iPadOS,” EU officials said in a statement after an eight-month review.
Six months to Apple
Apple has six months to bring iPadOS into compliance with the DMA. With the DMA, which came into force on March 7, the European Union gave users the right to download apps from outside the Apple App Store, delete apps installed on iPad, and choose their default service provider.
If Apple does not comply with this regulation, it may face serious sanctions and penalties. The DMA, which we can translate as the Digital Markets Act, includes special provisions for operating systems. According to these provisions, Apple will be fined 10% of its global turnover if it does not make changes to iPadOS. If this situation is repeated, the rate can increase to 20%.
The Commission stated that the number of iPadOS users in businesses is 11 times higher than the “gatekeeper” limit, and is approaching this limit in terms of individual users. The Commission had previously declared the Safari browser and the Apple App Store as gatekeepers, and the decision came just before Apple introduced the new iPad models.
