Apple will now send an executive to an upcoming Senate hearing after it earlier declined to attend.
A new Bloomberg report explains that Apple will send its chief compliance officer, Kyle Andeer, before the US Senate Judiciary Committee to testify during a hearing on app stores and digital competition on April 21.
Andeer will be made available to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights, led by US Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, explains the report.
Earlier this week, the Senators strongly urged Apple to testify during the upcoming hearing on digital markets focused on Apples App Store and the Google Play Store, after the Cupertino-based iPhone maker refused to attend the hearing.
“Apple’s sudden change in course to refuse to provide a witness to testify before the Subcommittee on app store competition issues in April, when the company is clearly willing to discuss them in other public forums, is unacceptable,” the senators wrote in the letter. “We strongly urge Apple to reconsider its position and to provide a witness to testify before the Subcommittee in a timely manner.”
Apple later changed course, saying it had intended to participate in the app store hearing and its initial refusal was due to date complications.
“We look forward to sharing our perspective on our App Store,” Apple said in a letter.
Klobuchar confirmed the hearing will explore “whether Apple and Google are using their power as gatekeepers to charge high fees and impose restrictions that suppress competition in mobile applications and related markets, and both companies’ participation in the hearing is necessary.” She added that the companies “have the power to control how and if mobile app developers can reach app users, and ultimately, which apps become successful.”
Andeer previously testified in front the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee in 2019, as part of its antitrust investigation of digital markets.
