Eight companies/associations, led by music streaming company Spotify, recently sent a joint letter to the executive vice president of the European Commission, calling Apple a harmful, anti-competitive and monopolistic company that must be regulated through “urgent action”.
The list of 8 companies/associations
- Basecamp
- Deezer
- Proton
- Schibsted
- Spotify
- European Publishers Council (EPC)
- France Digitale
- News Media Europe
The CEOs and heads of these eight companies/associations have sent an open letter to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission. In the letter, the companies/associations requested the EU to take immediate regulatory action and to intervene in the follow-up of Spotify’s app distribution strategy against Apple.
The eight companies/associations say that Apple’s App Store app distribution strategy has affected their business and accuse the App Store of “erratic changes in terms and conditions” that have made it difficult to grow.
In the letter, it was written that
Apple has imposed unfair restrictions on our business over the years. These restrictions have hindered our growth and hurt European consumers.
These restrictions include tying the App Store to Apple’s proprietary payment system and charging excessive commissions to app developers; creating artificial barriers that prevent our businesses from communicating freely with customers; restricting developers’ access to their own users’ data; and capricious changes to terms and conditions.
Apple benefits from a monopoly over its mobile ecosystem and extracts high rents from app developers who have no choice but to stay on the App Store to reach European consumers.
