EU Alleges Apple Broke Competition Law
Published: May 4, 2022
A new finding by the European Commission indicates that the tech giant, Apple, abused its position on the market and prevented rivals from using their “tap and go” technology, thus breaking competition laws.
The company denied the allegation and said they would engage with the Commission.
EU vice-president, Margrethe Vestager, released a statement saying they have indications “Apple restricted third-party access to key technology” for developing mobile contactless payments by its competitors on Apple devices.
An EU official in charge of the competition policy added that the accused company prevented competition to favor its Apple Pay. If these charges turn out to be true, it is set to pay 10% of its global turnover from last year.
The Commission stated that Apple’s move hinders innovation as iPhone users with mobile wallets are left with less choice. However, the tech giant stated that Apple Pay was only one of many options available for their customers in Europe.
The company released a statement saying they created Apple Pay as an “easy and secure way for users to digitally present their existing payment cards and for banks and other financial institutions to offer contactless payments for their customers.”
In Europe, over 2,500 banks use Apple Pay, and almost a third of the European market owns Apple smartphones.
EU antitrust regulators claim their investigators hadn’t found proof that a more open design would lead to a higher security risk. They said that Apple couldn’t justify this by citing security concerns.
It isn’t the first time Apple has been accused of anti-competitive practices by the European Commission. They went through the same process back in 2015 when Apple Pay was first launched.
Last year, the EU regulators also filed charges against the firm for distorting the music streaming market competition when Spotify filed a complaint.
The European Union plans to implement new rules in its Digital Markets Act to regulate technology companies next year.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Ema is an ESL teacher (who is highly curious about technology in education) and a content writer. She enjoys writing on all sorts of subjects and she loves a good challenge. When she’s not working, you can find her reading a mystery thriller or watching “Shutter Island” for the umpteenth time.
