In Germany, Apple will come under stricter supervision by the competition authorities

The German Federal Cartel Office wants to place Apple under stricter competition supervision, following the example of other tech giants. The authority classified the iPhone group as a company with “outstanding cross-market competitive importance” on Wednesday.

The cartel agency’s president, Andreas Mundt, stressed that Apple’s “economic position of power” gave the group “behavioral freedom that was not adequately controlled by the competition.” He referred, among other things, to the economic ecosystem surrounding the iPhone.

Apple wants to appeal.

This is how the American group reacts

Apple has “dominant, but in any case strong market positions at all vertically connected levels, starting with smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, through their own operating systems to the Apple App Store,” the cartel agency argued.

Apple countered, “The Federal Cartel Office’s classification misrepresents the tough competition Apple faces in Germany.” The agency’s assessment also ignores the value of a business model that focuses on user privacy and security. Apple will continue to work with the Federal Cartel Office “to understand the concerns.”

In 2021, the cartel agency was given more powers over companies with cross-market influence and can ban them from practices it believes endanger competition.

Google parent Alphabet was classified as such a company in January 2022, followed by Facebook group Meta in May and Amazon in July. Like Apple, the world’s largest online retailer does not want to accept this – the complaint is before the Federal Court of Justice. An audit has been launched at Microsoft.

(dsc/sda/awp/dpa)