- The EU Commission has notified Apple about its preliminary findings, which indicate it has breached the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with its anti-steering rules.
- The EU Commission has also opened new investigations to determine whether Apple’s Core Technology Fee (CTF) complies with the DMA.
- If the preliminary findings are confirmed, the EU could charge Apple up to 10% of its annual global revenue.
Earlier this year, Apple rolled out an iOS update with EU-exclusive features to comply with the DMA. These include support for third-party app stores and allowing developers to reference in-app digital services that users can buy from external websites. Now that the EU Commission has investigated some of Apple’s changes, its preliminary findings indicate that the iPhone maker has breached the DMA.
The EU Commission announced today that Apple’s new iPhone rules continue to prevent developers from steering users to external websites, which violates its DMA. For reference, Apple now allows app developers to link to digital purchases beyond its own IAP system. However, the company still restricts how developers implement the links in their apps, such as prohibiting them from listing their pricing.