The European Union’s antitrust regulator will examine whether Apple‘s Ads and Maps services should be subject to the strict requirements of its rules after the two services met key criteria. However, this tech giant believed that their services should be spared. Here are the details:
Also Read Apple Pay’s Promotional Strategy $3M for AIDS in 10 Days
Apple Ads and Apple Maps Met The “Gatekeepers” Thresholds
Apple’s App Store, iOS operating system, and Safari web browser were designated as core platform services under the Digital Markets Act two years ago, aimed to giving consumers more choice.
Introduced by the European Union in 2023, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was created to curb the power of “gatekeeper” tech companies that control key digital services like app stores, operating systems, and online advertising.
Its goals are to promote fair competition, prevent abusive practices, and give consumers and smaller businesses more choice by requiring gatekeepers to allow alternative app stores, enable third-party payment options, ensure data portability, and avoid self-preferencing. To sum up, the DMA aims to create a more open, competitive digital ecosystem across the EU.
The European Commission stated that the company’s Ads and Maps met two thresholds set out in the Act to be considered “gatekeepers”, which is the European Commission’s terms for companies with services that have more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of 75 billion euros ($79 billion). As gatekeepers, subjects should adhere to a list of the EU’s dos and don’ts.
In 45 days, the Commission has working days to decide whether to grant the designation to the company’s services. In the end, they give the company six months to comply.
Also Read The Last Frontier: Apple TV Gem You Must Watch Besides Pluribus
Apple’s Defense: We Are Not The Big Player
In its response on Friday, the company stated that it has filed a formal complaint with the EU competition enforcer.
The company stated that its Ads service is not a major player in the online advertising market in the European Union, it does not use data from other company services or third-party services for this service, and has a very small market share compared to competitors like Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, or X.
Its use of maps in the European Union is itself is also very limited compared to other mapping services, such as Google Maps and Waze, and it lacks a crucial intermediary function that allows it to connect businesses and end users more directly, the company adds.
That’s all the news regarding Apple and the EU’s DMA case. If you are interested in the same topic, don’t forget to check our other articles only at Price in UK. See you!
