Spain launches investigation into Apple’s App Store

The Spanish competition authority has launched an investigation into Apple’s App Store for potentially anti-competitive practices that could lead to heavy fines (via Reuters).

The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) announced an investigation into the App Store this week, raising concerns that the company may impose unfair trading conditions on developers who distribute their applications through the platform. The investigation was launched ex officio and reflects the significant economic influence of app stores in Spain. Apple’s practices could constitute an abuse of a dominant position, prohibited under Spanish competition law and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

If the CNMC’s investigation confirms these allegations, Apple could face fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue, potentially equivalent to several billion euros. The investigation, which could take up to two years, is another in a growing list of regulatory challenges facing Apple in Europe. An Apple spokesperson said the company would “continue to work with the Spanish competition authority to understand and respond to its concerns,” and reiterated that Apple believes its ‌App Store‌ rules are consistent and fair and that over 90% of revenue is paid to developers commission-free.

The investigation in Spain follows a broader trend of increased regulatory scrutiny of big tech companies’ control over digital marketplaces. In March, the European Commission fined Apple €1.84 billion for anti-steering practices related to music streaming apps. In June, the European Commission’s preliminary findings suggested that Apple’s “App Store” rules violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by preventing developers from switching consumers to alternative payment methods. The DMA, which is designed to put smaller competitors in the tech industry on a more equal footing, could impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover for non-compliance.

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