This is how Apple is defending itself against European antitrust accusations

Ahead of a long-awaited decision from the European Commission on a large fine against Apple, the iPhone company has rejected any violation of European competition law.

A company representative rejected allegations that Apple had in any way harmed competition in the digital music market. The Financial Times recently reported that Apple faces a fine of around 500 million euros for breaching EU competition law. The European Commission plans to announce the exact amount in March.

The competition dispute concerns whether Apple, as the operator of the app store for the iPhone and iPad, has distorted competition in the music streaming market or not.

The world’s largest streaming provider Spotify has been complaining for years that Apple gives preference to its own Apple Music service and prevents competitors from offering Apple users alternative ordering and payment options for music subscriptions.

Revenue sharing dispute

In concrete terms, both parties are discussing whether taking out a paid subscription via the Spotify app can be prohibited if Spotify does not want the iPhone manufacturer to share in the turnover.

Apple emphasized that Spotify’s business had developed exceptionally well since the first complaint in Europe in 2013. With a market share of 59 percent, the Swedes are now the leader – ahead of Amazon Prime Music with 18 percent and YouTube Music with nine percent. Apple is only in fourth place with eight percent market share. It is striking that the share for Spotify on iPhones is even higher than on Android devices.

Legal action is still open

Apple left it unclear how it would behave if the European Commission actually imposed a fine of around 500 million euros. The US group has legal action available, similar to the tax dispute with the EU.

In 2016, the European Commission ordered EU member Ireland to demand 13 billion euros in taxes from Apple. The decision was annulled four years later by the General Court of the European Union (ECC) in Luxembourg. The Commission could not prove that the company paid too little tax in Ireland and that the tax authorities there granted Apple unfair advantages.

However, the tax process has not yet been completed as an appeal procedure is still ongoing at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

(dsc/sda/dpa)