Good news for EU users, but we’re still waiting: When will the new iPhone features finally come to Switzerland?

Innovations

• Users will now be able to install applications from stores other than the Apple App Store. But it will take some time before this is possible because Apple has deliberately set the barriers high.
• Payment apps from providers other than Apple will be able to access the iPhone’s contactless payment functionality in the future.
• Users can now choose their own default browser (previously inevitably Apple’s Safari). Because of this monopoly, Apple has made a lot of money so far by selling Safari’s default search engine to Google.

The Federal Council was caught unprepared

Most experts and the Federal Council expected the same rules to apply for Swiss users. This is often the case with other EU regulations for large digital companies, such as data protection. In May 2023, the Federal Council said in response to a motion by the SP parliamentary group that “the new EU rules should also be expected to be implemented by major online platforms in Switzerland”.

But now this hope has turned out to be a lie. Apple excludes Switzerland. In order for the innovations to be implemented, the user’s Apple ID must first be set to an EU country. Secondly, the location of the smartphone is recorded and checked for EU membership. The result is regularly sent to Apple and determines access to new functions. With this strict enforcement, Swiss users have no hope of accessing innovations using technical tricks.

Who solves the problem?

The SP parliamentary group withdrew its proposal in March. He requested the Federal Council to introduce legislation to implement the key points of the Digital Market Act in Switzerland. However, the Federal Council is currently working on a consultative draft on improving regulation of major digital platforms. SP now says they want to wait and see what happens and reserve the right to be active again depending on the outcome. However, an inquiry into the responsible Federal Communications Office does not give much hope: the planned draft has a different focus and “a regulation equivalent to the Digital Markets Act is not currently planned in Switzerland”.

It may take this long

It is more interesting to check the pulse of the Competition Commission (Weko). In its statement regarding the SP’s motion, the Federal Council repeatedly pointed out that Comco could intervene in such cases. The authority is officially vague on this issue and only confirms the empty words of the Federal Council. But if you do a little research, it’s clear that the new iPhone rules are on ComCo’s radar.

Anyone who has examined previous procedures for dealing with such cases in Comco’s annual reports will immediately recognize the uncertainty of authority. Comco has legal avenues to force major digital companies to comply with competition law in lawsuits. But such cases often take a decade with appeals and require significant resources.

Comco wants to operate quietly

For this reason, Comco generally prefers a quiet approach in discussions with companies – or as the Federal Council puts it in its statement on the motion: Comco “also works regularly outside the investigation procedures of companies to enable companies to make adjustments to their behavior as an investigation. EU The outcome of the antitrust proceedings in will be implemented in Switzerland.” This not only saves resources at Comco, but also leads to faster results if successful.

For users, this means: wait and see. With any luck, it will only take a few months for Apple to give in and implement innovations. However, in case of bad luck, this period can last ten years or more; until the company had to make adjustments to its competition law procedure.