The British government announced that the Competition and Marketing Authority will respond to complaints from the App Store for possible violations of competition laws and launch an investigation into its "anti-competitive behavior."
Although this is not the first time Apple has clashed with the British government, in the context of the current EU investigation against Apple, the British government's movements are worthy of attention. Compared with the lawsuits arising from "Fortnite" between Epic Games, it is likely to cause more trouble.
According to Wccftech reports, CMA will investigate whether Apple is dominant in the distribution of apps on Apple devices in the UK, which means whether to use App Store related terms to impose unequal or anti-competitive terms on developers, ultimately allowing users to choose apps and plug-ins Become less, or need to pay a higher price.
The British government's investigation of Apple as an entity related to the United Kingdom means that Apple's British branch, Apple's other companies in Europe, and the US parent company will all be included in the scope of the investigation. Although it is not clear what developer the cause of the investigation is related to, it can be judged that it is more or less related to Epic Games. Now the contradiction between Apple and Spotify is getting bigger and bigger. Spotify has complained to the European Union that Apple’s efforts to promote its own music streaming service are unfair.
The European Commission (EC) currently has four public antitrust investigations against Apple. These investigations were initiated before the end of the Brexit transition period, including three public investigations on the Apple App Store. CMA said it will continue to coordinate closely with the European Commission and other agencies to resolve such global issues.
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