German watchdog probes the dominance of Apple’s market

FCO – The Federal Cartel Office announced that the investigation would examine Apple’s significance across markets.

Apple said it eagers to open dialogue with the Federal Cartel Office about any of its concerns.

This year, Facebook, Google, and Amazon faced similar probes after a new German competition law allowed action against large digital companies.

In a statement, Andreas Mundt, President of the FCO, said it would examine if Apple created with iOS a digital ecosystem around iPhone that can extend in several markets.

He added that they would focus on investigating the App Store, as it allows Apple to influence third parties’ business activities.

In June, CMA – the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed that it was investigating Google and Apple’s effective duopoly in web browsers, mobile app stores, and operating systems.

Further scrutiny

according to the investigation results, the FCO announced it might look in more complex ways at specific practices of Apple in other proceedings.

The Federal Cartel Office said it received various complaints regarding anti-competitive practices, which the following probe might consider.

The watchdog said that App developers criticized the 30% commission rate associated with the mandatory use of Apple’s purchase system.

The watchdog said that it also received a complaint from the media and advertising industry about restrictions regarding user tracking in iOS 14.5.

The Federal Cartel Office said it might establish contact with the European Commission, investigating the effects of App Store policies on music streaming.

In response, Apple said this iOS app economy plan supported more than 255,000 jobs in Germany.

The company added that the App Store gave German developers the same opportunity to share their creativity and passion with users worldwide while creating a trusted and secure place for users to download the apps with expected privacy protections.