EU Fines Apple $2B for Move That Impacted 'Millions'

Tech giant is hit with antitrust penalty for favoring its own music streaming service over rivals'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 4, 2024 8:35 AM CST
EU Fines Apple $2B for Move That Impacted 'Millions'
In this Jan. 3, 2019, file photo, the Apple logo is displayed at the Apple store in Brooklyn, New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the US tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc's competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals. Apple banned app developers from "fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services outside of the app," said the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm and top antitrust enforcer. "This is illegal, and it has impacted millions of European consumers," said Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, per the AP.

Apple behaved this way for almost a decade, which meant many users paid "significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions," the commission said. The $1.9 billion fine follows a long-running investigation triggered by a complaint from Swedish streaming service Spotify five years ago. The EU has led global efforts to crack down on Big Tech companies, including a series of multibillion-dollar fines for Google and charging Meta with distorting the online classified-ad market. The commission also has opened a separate antitrust investigation into Apple's mobile payments service. Apple hit back at both the commission and Spotify, saying it would appeal the penalty.

"The decision was reached despite the Commission's failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast," the company said in a statement. It said Spotify stood to benefit from the decision, asserting that the Swedish streaming service that holds a 56% share of Europe's music streaming market and doesn't pay Apple for using its App Store, met 65 times with the commission over eight years. The commission also has opened a separate antitrust investigation into Apple's mobile payments service, and the company has promised to open up its tap-and-go mobile payment system to rivals in order to resolve it. More here.

(More Apple stories.)

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