Germany’s antitrust regulator has opened the door for measures to curb Apple after deciding that the company’s market dominance makes it worthy of such measures, the Bundeskartellamt said in a statement on Wednesday, designating Apple a “company of paramount significance for competition across markets.”
“The company is – beginning with its mobile devices such as the iPhone – the operator of a comprehensive digital ecosystem with a high significance for competition not only in Germany, but also in Europe and worldwide,” said Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt.
On the basis of the regulator’s decision, it can target practices “that pose a threat to competition and practices and effectively prevent them”, he added.
Apple said it would continue to work with the cartel office to understand its concerns but that it planned to appeal the decision.
“The (cartel office’s) designation misrepresents the fierce competition Apple faces in Germany, and it discounts the value of a business model that puts user privacy and security at its core,” an Apple spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
MacDailyNews Take: Regulate away!
Those who want safety, security, and privacy will stick to Apple’s App Store, but a single point of control is always a danger, especially when it comes to capricious censorship (see: pre-Musk Twitter, Apple’s App Store in China, etc.).
iPhone and iPad users must, like Mac users, have the ability to install third-party apps; even if they never do, for it will keep Apple honest. The ability to ban an app loses all power when it’s simply available in another App Store.
These moves, including removing the mandate to use WebKit, Apple’s Safari browsing engine, in third-party browsers, as Apple is considering, will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the threat of anti-trust actions against Apple for the foreseeable future.
Also, expect Gatekeeper to come to iOS and iPadOS from macOS. – MacDailyNews, December 13, 2022
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
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
Apple you’re TOO successful and we don’t like you.
Can we in the U.S. regulate all German made/owned cars to ensure subpar vehicles get an unfair advantage despite the what the market wants?
German antitrust regulator does not declare focus on Microsoft for curbs in spite of its OS dominance.
Did MDN finally see the light?