Apple can shrug off the EU’s $2 billion fine
The EU’s $2 billion (1.84 billion euro) fine, revealed on Monday, is nearly four times higher than observers expected. Still, the $2.7 trillion Cupertino colossus may largely be able to shrug it off.
Rebecca Christie in commentary for Reuters:
Apple is on the menu because of a 2019 complaint from $52 billion Spotify Technology, opens new tab, which protested that the U.S. giant’s App Store charges music streamers a 30% commission and prevents them from telling customers of other payment options. The latter practice, called “steering”, means that music streaming apps sold through Apple’s store can’t advertise that they offer a cheaper rate for subscriptions booked through a website, for example.
The European Union’s executive arm now wants Apple to change its ways, piling on to other App Store adjustments demanded under the bloc’s new Digital Markets Act. Competition boss Margrethe Vestager said on Monday that Apple’s policies have been “illegal” and led to higher costs for consumers, and she signalled more fights ahead.
MacDailyNews Take: The average app price in the Apple App Store as of July 2023 is 88-cents.
So, according to EU ditz Margrethe Vestager, apps that on average cost less than a buck “led to higher costs for consumers.” (smirk)
Again:
How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? [How much did it cost consumers?] Apple incurs costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to over one [2.2] billion users. — MacDailyNews, June 10, 2022
It’s Apple’s App Store. Of course they have a right to charge commissions.
Apple’s App Store isn’t a charity and it’s not free to operate. – MacDailyNews, November 14, 2022
LSEG data suggests Apple could make $100 billion of net income in its next financial year. As such, even a fine on the scale of Google’s $8 billion from various EU rulings would be more inconvenience than problem. It could also be reduced on appeal…
Either way, Apple shareholders seem aware that their company’s cost of doing business may be on the rise: Apple shares fell 3% on Monday, a much bigger fall than the hit from its fine. On the other hand, customers are used to working with Big Tech’s one-stop shops, and more fragmented digital marketplaces are no guarantee of better prices. Brussels’ bark may yet remain worse than its bite.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple has a right to charge for use of its App Store. If developers what to advertise lower prices elsewhere inside Apple’s App Store, Apple has a right to charge an advertising fee of their choosing.
The European Union arose because the Europeans couldn’t compete on their own with the rest of the world, so they each lined up to surrender their national sovereignty, unique cultures, and dignity for an undemocratic, opaque, wasteful, bloated, bureaucratic quasi-governmental blob – and, even with the EU’s thumbs all over the scale, they still can’t compete. – MacDailyNews, March 4, 2024
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