A Sunday early morning report from the Financial Times states the EUR500 million (about $539 million USD) fine follows regulators examined a Spotify grievance that Apple policies avoid iPhone apps from informing users about less expensive options to Apple’s music service.
The problem boils down to Apple’s efforts to keep apps and users corraled inside its App Store payments system. Spotify grumbled in 2019 that Apple’s policies soft competitors versus Apple Music, starting an EU examination the next year. The EU whittled its objections to oppose Apple’s rejection to let designers even connect out to their own membership sign-ups within their apps– a policy that Apple altered in 2022 following regulative pressure in Japan.
$539 million might seem like a lot, however a much larger fine of near $40 billion (or 10 percent of Apple’s yearly worldwide turnover) was on the table when the EU upgraded its objections in 2015. Apple was charged over a billion dollars in 2020, however French authorities dropped that to about $366 million after the business appealed.
Apple representative Emma Wilson informed The Verge through e-mail that the business is “not talking about speculation” and referred us to previous declarations made by another Apple representative, Hannah Smith, who stated in February in 2015 that the business hoped the Commission would stop pursuing the case, which Smith stated, “has no benefit.” European Commission representative Lea Zuber decreased to comment.
Spotify did not react by press time.