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EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

cnbc.com

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Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#21

Post by teknopaul »

dustinmoris wrote: post #16
zibzab wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should add, the ruling is not really about the validity of the 30% fee. What EU seems to argue is this: 1. Apple is in phone business, Spotify music. So far so good... 2. Then apple wants to get into the music business too. Now they have an unfair advantage since Spotify must pay 30% to apple while apple music "pays" 0%. So apple use their dominance in one area (phones) to get an advantage in a totally different area…

I agree with this principle but in this specific case it’s not true because Apple started their music business long before the iPhone and Spotify existed. In fact they started with the iPod and their music business with the iPod is what lead them to invent the iPhone and the AppStore. It’s rich from other music businesses like Spotify to want to benefit from all of the R&D and innovation cost from Apple and the marke…

starting first does not mean you are not abusing your monopoly.

Another way of looking at this is that a 30% margin is preventing a lot of businesses from happening until Apple do it. The 30% is less of a concern that the fact that they can shut you down on a whim.

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#22

Post by zibzab »

georgyo wrote: post #5

> In response, Apple said the EU’s case was the “opposite of fair competition,” according to a statement cited by Reuters. So apple thinks that allowing any competition is the opposite of fair.

Remember their response in the ebook price fixing lawsuit?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc.

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#23

Post by huhtenberg »

mnd999 wrote: post #9

It's not clear to me from the article what remedy they're proposing. Seems like it could be any of: * Drop the 30% fee * Drop the 30% fee for apps the compete directly with Apple apps. * Allow users to install other app stores.

* Allow alternative payment options.

The rest will follow.

If supporting alt-monetized apps in AppStore will be too much for Apple, then they should allow AppStore alternatives or start charging hosting/processing fees.

If paying through AppStore will be more expensive than paying in some other way, then Apple should lower the fees.

Just needs some form of competitive pressure to get the ball rolling.

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#24

Post by bluescrn »

WA wrote: post #8
rusk wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that unpopular? I think all but a fairly vocal minority of people (probably direct/indirect beneficiaries) would agree.

"Their platform, their rules" – there are many people who say this, especially on HN.

Because they're all trying to build platforms, probably

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#25

Post by spzb »

sebmellen wrote: post #7

Maybe I’m too cynical, but how will Apple get out of this? What’s the trick they’ll use this time? After all, this is only a “preliminary view.”

If I was Tim Apple, probably allow third party payment providers (from a list of Apple-approved providers that have to handle disputes, unsubs etc in an approved way). And then charge a per-download fee to apps which offer in-app subscriptions without using Apple's payment option.

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#26

Post by simion314 »

beforeolives wrote: post #13
zibzab wrote: post #2

Unpopular opinion: This was a no brainer. Apple wanted 30% (or was it less for subscriptions?) on any business that used apps, no matter if they used apple infrastructure or not. Just think about it: one company is in practice entitled to 30% of what any other business makes (in any industry)!! Also, I think apple brought this to themselves by picking a fight with Spotify (on Watch support).

> Just think about it: one company is in practice entitled to 30% of what any other business makes (in any industry)!! 1. No, this is limited to the AppStore, those businesses can operate elsewhere. 2. What's the alternative? How is any business entitled to free or low-fee access to a platform that Apple built and maintain?

>What's the alternative? How is any business entitled to free or low-fee access to a platform that Apple built and maintain?

Maybe look at OSX ? Why can Apple be happy with OK with one but not the other? If you want to imply that phones are not computers then tablets are not phones and more like computers, so we all know that if it OSX was created today would be locked.

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#29

Post by oblio »

zibzab wrote: post #22
georgyo wrote: post #5

> In response, Apple said the EU’s case was the “opposite of fair competition,” according to a statement cited by Reuters. So apple thinks that allowing any competition is the opposite of fair.

Remember their response in the ebook price fixing lawsuit? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc .

No?

Re: EU says Apple’s App Store breaks competition rules after Spotify complaint

#30

Post by simion314 »

xondono wrote: post #27

Let’s not act like this is some “principles” based discussion. The only reason for the EU getting into this is that spotify is european and Apple isn’t

There are laws that were created before the iPhone existed, like laws that were applied in US too in Microsoft case.
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