According to foreign media reports, on Thursday, local time in the United States, two people familiar with the matter revealed that Apple may face the EU’s first antitrust accusation in the coming weeks, which will put more pressure on it and force it to change the way its app store operates. . Earlier, music streaming service Spotify complained that Apple favored its own service.

People familiar with the matter said that the European Commission (EC) will respond to a complaint filed by the music streaming service Spotify two years ago, and may send a so-called “statement of objection” to Apple before the summer, listing its alleged violations of the European Union. The conduct of antitrust rules.

Spotify's indictment filed in 2019 stated that Apple unfairly restricted competitors, favored its own music streaming service Apple Music, and protested that app developers need to charge 30% commissions for using Apple's in-app purchase system (IAP). Regulations. Since Apple services do not need to pay commissions, it can drive down prices to gain an advantage.

Recently, after video game developer Epic Games began to guide players to use its own payment system, its popular game "Fortress Night" was removed from Apple's App Store. The company also filed an anti-competitive complaint against Apple in the European Union.

Antitrust challenges around the world are threatening one of Apple's fastest-growing and most profitable businesses. Apple has a number of digital services, including music and video, cloud storage, games, and more and more other additional services. They have now become Apple’s second largest source of revenue after the iPhone, bringing them in the last three months of last year. A total of 15.8 billion U.S. dollars in sales.

After Spotify filed a complaint, the European Union launched a series of antitrust investigations into Apple's business practices and will take further actions. In addition to the Spotify lawsuit, the European Commission is also investigating the Apple App Store’s regulations for all competing apps, e-books and audio books, as well as the unfair terms of its mobile payment service Apple Pay.

The European Commission declined to comment. Apple mentioned its blog post published in March 2019, saying that its app store has helped Spotify benefit from hundreds of millions of app downloads and become Europe's largest music streaming service.

But Apple argues that its system ensures the safety and privacy of its customers, while allowing independent developers to access the same toolset used by larger companies such as Spotify and Epic Games. But critics say that Apple has unfairly applied its rules, and its status as a gatekeeper has caused it to charge too high a commission to all iPhone owners.

For this reason, some of Apple's competitors either disabled their own in-app payment options on the app store, or passed the extra cost on to users. Regulators believe that Apple's approach may hinder consumers from obtaining more choices and lower prices, thereby harming consumers' interests.

Apple is trying to ward off regulatory pressures and appease its developers by drastically cutting costs. In November last year, the company announced that it would halve the commissions charged by smaller developers.

People familiar with the matter believe that it may take several months before the European Commission can file a formal accusation against Apple, and the case may still be shelved.

At the same time, global regulators are increasingly looking at the company. The British competition watchdog CMA launched an investigation into Apple’s conduct on Thursday. The agency said complaints that Apple used its market position to set unfair or potentially restrictive terms deserve careful scrutiny because it may lead to customers buying and using apps. Suffer a loss from time to time. (Little)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate