Apple's DMA Compliance Issues in Europe

TapTechNews June 19th news, Margrethe Vestager, the EU Competition Commissioner, said in an interview with CNBC that Apple faces'many very serious' problems in complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe.

The European Commission launched an investigation into Apple in March this year to assess whether Apple's adjustments to the EU market conform to DMA regulations.

DMA regulations require Apple to provide a third-party app store to developers and not charge fees for the App Store.

Apple has deployed relevant adjustment measures in the iOS 17.4 update, but for applications with an annual installation of more than 1 million times, Apple needs to charge an additional 0.50 euros (currently about $0.59) core technology fee for each new download.

Vestager believes in the interview that Apple's 'core technology fee' does not meet the requirements of DMA. TapTechNews translates her interview content as follows:

We found many problems in the investigation, and the problems are very serious. These problems are staggering, the seriousness is beyond our expectations, and it is clearly non-compliant. Apple's new rules in Europe do not meet the expectations of the European people for this company.

Vestager said that the European Commission will announce the investigation conclusion as soon as possible. If Apple is found to have violated the DMA provisions, the EU can impose a huge fine on it, with a maximum fine amount of up to 5% of its global daily income, up to 1 billion US dollars (currently about $7.265 billion).