Spanish antitrust authority launches investigation into App Store

The Spanish National Market and Competition Commission (CNMC) has launched an investigation into Apple’s App Store. The investigation concerns potentially anti-competitive behavior on Apple’s platforms.

The CNMC began its investigation last week, claiming Apple may abuse its dominant position to impose unfair terms and conditions on app developers, a move that could violate Spanish competition law as well as Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Apple has traditionally charged a 30% commission for all App Store developers earning more than $1 million per year, and a lower 15% commission for smaller developers.

In January, Apple announced some alternative terms for developers in the EU, allowing them to choose a lower commission of 10-17% (plus 3% if they use the App Store payment processor). There is a caveat, however, as using these alternative terms will incur a core technology fee of €0.50 per user for apps with more than 1 million installs per year.

Apple denied the allegations of unfair terms and conditions in a statement to Reuters. An Apple spokesperson said that “Spanish developers of all sizes compete on equal terms in the App Store” and that the company “will continue to work with the Spanish competition authority to understand and respond to their concerns.”

Earlier this year, Apple was fined $2 billion by the European Union. If Apple is found guilty of violating Spanish competition law, the company could face fines of up to 10% of its profits from the year before the fine was imposed.

Although this investigation was only recently launched, the CNMC has up to 24 months to investigate Apple and make a final decision.