Apple fined €500 million for allegedly breaching EU Digital Markets Act

Apple has been fined €500 million by the European Commission for allegedly breaching rules designed to open the App Store ecosystem to competition. Per the European Commission, the company has breached the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by purposefully stifling the growth of alternative app stores.

In early 2024, the European Commission wielded the DMA to force Apple to allow alternative app marketplaces on iOS devices, and while it complied with this order, it did implement a new approval process which required developers to pay a fee – 50 euro cents per app install above one million downloads, annually.

Following the announcement of this “Core Technology Fee,” some of the largest technology companies in the world spoke out against Apple, accusing it of unfair practices, and continued stifling of growth.

“Apple has just shown the world, they don’t think the rules apply to them,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said at the time. “Under the false pretence of compliance and concessions, they put forward a new plan that is a complete and total farce. Essentially, the old tax was rendered unacceptable under the DMA, so they created a new one masquerading as compliance with the law.”

Read: Xbox, Spotify and others speak out against new App Store policy

Now, the European Commission has made their own ruling, stating they believe Apple has acted unfairly, getting around the original DMA decision by finding new avenues to reduce competition.

“Developers wanting to use alternative app distribution channels on iOS are disincentivized from doing so as this requires them to opt for business terms which include a new fee (Apple’s Core Technology Fee),” said the European Commission, via The Verge. “Apple also introduced overly strict eligibility requirements, hampering developers’ ability to distribute their apps through alternative channels.”

It asserts that Apple has made it “overly burdensome and confusing” for users to download apps using alternatives to the App Store.

In a response to the finding, Apple has claimed it’s being unfairly targeted, and that it’s being forced to give away its technology for free. “Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free,” the company said, via Reuters.

As Reuters further notes, the European Commission finding lands at an interesting time, as the United States is currently locked into a tariff trade war with a range of countries, threatening penalties on those that don’t comply. With Apple (and fellow fined company Meta) both being prominent, success US-based businesses, critics have flagged possible retaliation, inspired by the EC’s ruling.

We’ll have to wait to see whether the fines stick, and what results from proceedings.