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The European Commission said today that it has determined that Apple is in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with App Store rules and fees that “prevent app developers from freely directing consumers to alternative channels for offers and content.” The commission “has informed Apple of its preliminary position” that the company is violating the law, the regulator announced.
This starts a process in which Apple has the right to examine documents in the commission’s investigation file and respond to the findings in writing. There is a March 2025 deadline for the commission to make a final ruling.
The commission noted that it “may impose fines of up to 10 percent of the gatekeeper’s total worldwide turnover,” or up to 20 percent for repeated violations. In the case of ‘systematic breaches’, the European regulator could respond by ‘requiring a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it, or by prohibiting the gatekeeper from purchasing additional services related to the systemic non-compliance’.
Under the DMA, developers should be free to “inform their customers about alternative, lower-cost purchase opportunities, direct them to those offers and enable them to make purchases,” the commission said. But Apple’s business terms prevent that, the commission found.
Apple’s rules prevent developers from providing pricing information in their apps and “communicating with their customers to promote offers available on alternative distribution channels,” the commission said. Apple lets developers include an in-app link that directs users to a website, but this “link-out” process is subject to several restrictions imposed by Apple that prevent app developers from communicating, promoting offers, and contracting through the distribution channel of their choice,” the committee said.
Excessive costs
Apple was further accused of charging excessive fees. The commission said that Apple “may charge a fee for facilitating, through the App Store, developers’ initial acquisition of a new customer,” but that “the fees charged by Apple exceed what is strictly necessary for such compensation . charges developers a fee for any purchase of digital goods or services a user makes within seven days of leaving the app.”
Apple says it charges a 27 percent commission on sales “to the user for digital goods or services on your website after an outside link… provided the sale is initiated within seven days and the digital goods or services services can be used in an app.”
We’ve reached out to Apple today and are waiting for a response. In a statement cited by the Associated Press, Apple said it has “made a number of changes to comply with the DMA in recent months in response to feedback from developers and the European Commission” and that it will “continue to listen and engage.” with supervisors.
“We believe our plan is compliant with the law and estimate that more than 99 percent of developers would pay the same or less fees to Apple under the new business terms we have created,” Apple said. “All developers doing business in the EU through the App Store have the opportunity to take advantage of the capabilities we’ve introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to make purchases at a highly competitive rate.”
As reported Friday, Apple is delaying its Apple Intelligence AI tools and other features in the EU due to what it called “regulatory uncertainties resulting from the Digital Markets Act.”
EU also investigating Apple ‘Core Technology Fee’
The commission also announced today that it is launching a separate investigation into Apple’s “contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores,” including the “Core Technology Fee.” Apple charges the Core Technology Fee on app installations, regardless of whether they are delivered from Apple’s own App Store, from an alternative app marketplace, or from a developer’s own website. The first million installations per year are free, but after that a surcharge of €0.50 per installation applies.
The committee said it would investigate whether the Core Technology Fee complies with the DMA. This study will also examine “Apple’s multi-step process to download and install alternative app stores or apps on iPhones,” and the eligibility requirements imposed on developers before they can offer alternative app stores or distribute apps from the web on iPhones.
The investigation includes Apple’s requirement that developers have “membership in good standing” in the Apple Developer Program to take advantage of the alternative distribution methods required by the DMA. The committee said it is also investigating the “checks and reviews put in place by Apple to validate apps and alternative app stores for sideloading.”