Germany says Apple's market power needs greater regulation

Regulators in Germany have declared that Apple's size and importance means it qualifies for the country's extended anti-competition law, and needs more scrutiny for potential anti-trust violations.

Germany is already investigating Apple over the alleged antitrust implications of its App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS.

Now, Germany's Bundeskartellamt regulator has determined that Apple is subject to the 2021 amendment to the country's German Competition Act (GWB). The new section 19a of that act came into effect in January 2019, and it is specifically aimed at firms the regulator determines to be of "paramount significance for competition across markets."

"Apple has an economic position of power across markets which gives rise to a scope of action that is not sufficiently controlled by competition," said Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt, in a statement. "Based on its mobile end devices such as the iPhone, Apple operates a wide-ranging digital ecosystem which is of great importance to competition not only in Germany, but also throughout Europe and the world."

"With its proprietary products iOS and the App Store, Apple holds a key position for competition as well as for gaining access to the ecosystem and Apple customers," continued Mundt. "This decision enables us to specifically take action against and effectively prohibit anti-competitive practices."

There is a clause in the regulations which means the Bundeskartellamt's decision that Apple qualifies under this law, is limited to five years. It's not clear whether the regulator can the simply re-issue the decision.

However, the announcement that Apple qualifies has started that five-year clock. It means that until 2028, Apple is "subject to special abuse control."

The decision does not necessarily mean that Germany will open further legal cases against Apple, just that this regulator now has the authority to. It also does not impact other existing investigations, such as Germany's Federal Cartel Office which also examining alleged antitrust issues regard the App Store.

17 Comments

genovelle 1481 comments · 16 Years

About 1 year ago

Apple’s popularity may mean that some products will be paused or deactivated in Germany so their beliefs are not an issue. Apple already limits certain products to the US and Canada because releasing in Europe or other countries with complicated regulations doesn’t make good business sense.

igorsky 773 comments · 9 Years

In all of these initiatives in the EU they always throw out that they want to protect competition, but rarely do they talk about the consumer. How about asking us if we want the EU sticking their nose in the way Apple operates? Clearly consumers have spoken with their wallets and they like the way Apple does things.

hmurchison 11823 comments · 23 Years

igorsky said:

In all of these initiatives in the EU they always throw out that they want to protect competition, but rarely do they talk about the consumer. How about asking us if we want the EU sticking their nose in the way Apple operates? Clearly consumers have spoken with their wallets and they like the way Apple does things.

I've noticed this as well. I rarely see issues concerning consumers take the front seat. Even in this article the issue alluded to is App Tracking Transparency. This is an issue that consumers would generally be keen on given the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica fiasco. Even then Governments were tepid in response. Sure they levied fines but few were jumping up to craft legislation to drastically curb how consumer data is to be kept private.

Any attempt for corporations to redirect the flow of data-mined data is met with nebulous anti-trust claims. I've been using the NextDNS free product for a while and it's crazy how many links I click on are filtered through some analytics engine. I get that companies want to see engagement data for their marketing but todays solution is akin to a husband talking to his wife through the children "hey Bobby tell your mother ...".

gatorguy 24603 comments · 13 Years

igorsky said:

I think we will all be better off, and certainly the tech landscape, if authorities start throttling the power wielded by Apple, Google and Microsoft.

it will be impossible for honest competition to evolve when at the first sign of potential one of the big three swallows it up by acquisition, or nullifying any possible market presence by creating their own version and outlasting/outspending any legal challenges from doing so. No company on earth is more economically powerful than Apple, and Google and Microsft are not far behind. They can withstand any challenge except by government authorities.

Being monitored and regulated won't prevent any of the three from becoming even larger and more profitable, but it could at least help level the playing field for other innovators and start-ups.

darelrex 139 comments · 11 Years

Apple's ATT — which gives each user the option to allow/disallow tracking for each individual app — is "not sufficiently controlled by competition"? So if market forces don't persuade Apple to let Facebook track all iPhone users whether they like it or not, then the government needs to step in and make it happen? Thanks, Germany. Glad I don't live there.