Brussels will hit tech giant Apple with a €500 million fine for allegedly breaking EU law over access to its music streaming services, the Financial Times reported Sunday, according to Politico.
The fine would be the EU’s first ever against Apple and is expected to be announced early next month, according to the FT report. It is the result of a European Commission antitrust probe into whether Apple’s “anti-steering” requirements breach the bloc’s abuse of dominance rules, harming music consumers “who may end up paying more” for apps.
The probe is investigating contractual restrictions that Apple imposed on app developers that prevent them from informing iPhone and iPad users of cheaper music subscription options. It was launched after Spotify made a formal complaint to regulators in 2019.
Apple Insider reported that Apple may be the target of a 500 million euro ($538 million) fine from the European Commission, with the regulator expected to impose the charge following its competition probe into how it treats Apple Music’s competitors.
The European Commission has been investigating whether Apple broke antitrust laws following a 2019 complaint from Spotify, which resulted in a 2020 probe launch. Almost four years later, the European Commission is allegedly preparing to hand out punishments.
According to five people with knowledge of the investigation, the Financial Times reports that the Commission is expected to announce a fine against Apple early in March. The fine, thought to be in the ballpark of 500 million euro, will supposedly be accompanied by a ruling that Apple broke EU laws with its App store anti-steering rules.
The Verge reported that Apple will reportedly have to pay around €500 (around $539 million USD) in the EU for stifling competition against Apple Music on the iPhone. Financial Times reported this morning that the fine comes after regulators in Brussels, Belgium investigated a Spotify complaint that Apple prevented apps from telling users about cheaper alternatives to Apple’s music service.
According to The Verge, the issue comes down to Apple’s efforts to keep apps and users corralled inside its App Store payments system. Spotify complained in 2019 that Apple’s policies muted competition. The EU whittled its objections down to oppose Apple’s refusal to let developers even link out to their own subscription sign-ups within their apps – a policy that Apple changed in 2022 following regulatory pressure in Japan.
Apple representative Emma Wilson told The Verge via email that the company is “not commenting on speculation” and referred us to previous statements made by another Apple spokesperson, Hannah Smith, who said in February last year that the company hoped the Commission would stop pursuing the case, which Smith said “has no merit.” European Commission spokesperson Lea Zuber declined to comment.
In my opinion, this is a situation that goes back several years, and appears to be slowly taken up by the EU. And now, it sounds like the EU is intending to impose a fine on Apple.