Apple on Monday received a €1 million ($1.45 million CAD/$1.06 million USD) slap on the wrist from the Paris Commercial Court in France for requiring French app developers to agree to abusive conditions for access to the App Store — reports Reuters.
The court only issued a fine, noting in its ruling that there was no need to order Apple to change its App Store policies since the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), passed into law last month, will do just that.
On November 1, the EU began a six-month implementation phase for the DMA, which targets the dominance of large “gatekeepers” like Apple and Google within the tech industry. Designed to facilitate competition, the DMA is expected to bring unprecedented changes to the way Apple and other tech giants operate their platforms and services.
Specifically, the legislation will force Apple to allow iPhone and iPad users to install third-party app stores and “sideload” apps, let developers use third-party payment systems on the App Store, give competitors unfettered access to hardware and software features on devices, make communications services like iMessage interoperable with other platforms like Android, and more.
With the DMA, the EU wants to open up Apple’s walled garden (and several others). The DMA will start to take effect from May 2, 2023, with a March 6, 2024, deadline for full compliance.
In response to the Paris Commercial Court’s fine, an Apple spokesman said the tech giant would review the ruling and believed “in vibrant and competitive markets where innovation can flourish.”
“Through the App Store, we’ve helped French developers of all sizes share their passion and creativity with users around the world while creating a secure and trusted place for customers,” the spokesman added.
Back in August, France-based developers filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple in California over allegedly anti-competitive App Store policies, including the iPhone maker’s 30% commission on all transactions made through the App Store.
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I hear that the French Supermarket chain Carrefour, along with other French retailers, are marking up milk, and other products, and not letting those companies directly sell their products wholesale through their stores and supermarkets. I suspect that they are also picking and choosing who their suppliers are and not allowing each and every dairy in the world to sell through their shelves. Maybe the French authorities should fine them?
There’s a reason so little innovation happens in the tech industry (and really, most industries) in Europe. Where’s their google? Their Apple? Their twitter? Spotify, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, SpaceX, Cisco, intel, etc.
They have a few government funded and protected giants, like airbus and their auto manufacturers. What else?
Spotify is Swedish, so: Spotify, Nokia, Ericsson, Dyson, Siemens. Duch NXP Semiconductors has a market cap roughy half as big as Intel but nobody heard of them. Same thing with ASML Holding, which is a top designer and manufacturer of lithography machines for chip production, with market cap of $240+ billion. Not as sexy or well known but they chug along.
I wouldn’t dismiss car manufacturers, especially German, just because of government subsidies. Tesla, contrary to the common perception, gets a good chunk of their income not from selling their cars but from government subsidies and regulatory carbon emission credits: $1.46 billion in regulatory emissions credits out of $5.51 billion net income.
Nobody has heard of them? I’d say many of them are global brands. And none of them supply facilities to other companies for free.
My point was that NXP Semiconductors and ASML Holding, for instance, are not as well known as the American brand names It’s Me mentioned but that doesn’t mean the ‘European tech industry and really, most industries’ don’t have anything on par with US. The fact that one hasn’t heard of them doesn’t mean that innovation is stifled in EU.
The rest: Spotify, Nokia, Ericsson, Dyson, Siemens, Philips, Bosh, Electrolux etc. are well known and that was the direct answer to his question “What else?” The older brands like Grundig and Telefunken, who did their innovating way back and built the foundation for today’s tech giants are also not to be dismissed.
Valid points, you’re correct. Spotify is one of the ones whining about Apple, and if Apple/Google(android) did not exist, I don’t think Spotify would either. They own their existence to these companies that built ecosystems and then gripe about having them take markup. My “emergency” radio is a Grundig one, they made good things. I also have products from Philips, Dyson…