Just days after Apple accused Epic Games of seeking a free ride in one antitrust case, the company is continuing to engage in a war of words with the EU over another.
In a court hearing on the legality of the Digital Markets Act, Apple’s lawyer said that it “imposes hugely onerous and intrusive burdens” on the company, while the EU says the iPhone maker wants “absolute control” in order to lock-in users to achieve “supernormal profits” …
A quick recap on Apple and the DMA
Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation designated a number of tech companies as “gatekeepers” – meaning that they are powerful enough to use their market dominance to block competition.
Apple was designated a gatekeeper because it hit a minimum user threshold, with one concern its monopoly over the sale of iPhone apps. It was told that it must allow people to buy and sell iPhone apps outside of its own App Store. The company complied, and there are now several alternative app stores for iPhone apps.
The DMA also says that if Apple offers new iPhone-powered features that work with its own hardware, like AirPods, then it must make the same connected features available to third-party hardware companies. Apple says this poses significant privacy challenges, and that’s the reason that it has had to delay the launch of some new features within the EU.
Today’s court developments
It’s only a couple of weeks since it was reported that Apple was close to reaching a settlement with the EU over Digital Markets Act (DMA) violations.
That may well turn out to be true, but it certainly doesn’t mean that Apple is ending its attempt to have the law repealed or substantially modified. Bloomberg reports on the latest from the ongoing court case in the EU General Court in Luxembourg.
The iPhone maker’s lawyer Daniel Beard told the court on Tuesday that the Digital Markets Act “imposes hugely onerous and intrusive burdens” at odds with Apple’s rights in the EU marketplace […]
The DMA imposes obligations “that ignore the protection of property rights and issues of privacy and security, which are vital to EU citizens,” Beard said.
The DMA in turn accused Apple of profiteering at the expense of iPhone owners and developers alike.
EU commission lawyer Paul-John Loewenthal hit back against the tech giant’s claims, saying Apple’s “absolute control” over the iPhone has allowed it to generate “supernormal profits” […]
“Only Apple has the keys to that walled garden,” Loewenthal told the court. “It decides who gets it and who can offer their products and services to iPhone users […] and through such control, Apple has locked in more than a third of European smartphone users.”
Expect much more of the same to come.
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