The European Commission, on Tuesday, opened two antitrust investigations into Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay practices. One of these investigations will assess whether Apple's rules for app developers on the distribution of apps via the App Store violate EU competition rules. The other will look into why Apple limits a certain technology to only its payments system. Incidentally, both these antitrust investigations come just a day after Apple promoted findings from a study which claimed that the App Store was responsible for an estimated $519 billion in total billings and sales of physical products and services and digital goods in 2019. What the investigations are about 1. The first investigation is about Apple's App Store policies, particularly: The mandatory use of Apple's own proprietary in-app purchase system (IAP) for the distribution of paid digital content. (Apple charges app developers a 30% commission on all subscription fees through IAP). Restrictions on the ability of developers to inform users of alternative purchasing possibilities outside of apps. Apple’s “rules prevent developers from informing users about such purchasing possibilities, which are usually cheaper,” the Commission said. This follows after complaints from Spotify and an “e-book and audiobook distributor”, alleging that App Store policies limit consumer choice and stifle innovation. Spotify had filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the EU in March 2019, saying it’s unfair that Apple Music doesn’t have to pay a similar fee, and that Apple doesn’t let Spotify link users out of the app to purchase a subscription, or even advertise…
