Brazil’s antitrust watchdog Cade has started an investigation into Apple for alleged abuse of a dominant position.
Carolina Millan and Caio Rinaldi for Bloomberg News:
Cade opened the probe on Jan. 12 following a complaint filed by Latin America’s e-commerce and fintech giant MercadoLibre Inc, the agency said in a statement. The complaint adds to a series of antitrust cases around the world, including in the US, EU, UK, South Korea, Japan, India and Indonesia, Cade added.
The Cupertino, California-based company usually requires developers to use its own payment system, which helps ensure it receives a commission for apps downloaded on its platform.
MercadoLibre in December filed complaints in Brazil and Mexico — its two largest markets — alleging that Apple is violating anti-competitive practices by prohibiting third-parties from distributing digital goods on iOS apps and leading to higher prices.
MacDailyNews Take: By the time this runs its course, Apple will have discovered via the EU that third-party app stores for its non-Mac computing devices aren’t the business hinderance they once might have imagined.
Adding the ability to access third-party app stores for iPhone and iPad also removes a selling point for Android phones and tablets, a crucial selling point for some, that is likely to result in further acceleration of Android to iPhone upgraders. So, third-party app stores for iPhone and iPad won’t hurt Apple too much. In fact, it might even benefit Apple. – MacDailyNews, December 14, 2022
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