[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Apple and Google, embroiled in controversy over app market monopolies, will testify before the U.S. Congress.
Apple is set to appear at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the 21st (local time) to testify regarding allegations of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store, according to major foreign media outlets.
In a recent letter sent to the Senate, Apple announced that Kyle Andeer, Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), will attend the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Initially, Apple had refused to appear before the Judiciary Committee, but Senator Amy Klobuchar (Democrat) and Senator Mike Lee (Republican) sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, stating that they could not accept the refusal to testify and urged Apple to appear again.
Google has already expressed its intention to attend the Judiciary Committee hearing.
This hearing is being held to address criticisms that Apple and Google are engaging in anti-competitive corporate activities by leveraging their dominant market positions to impose high commission fees within the App Store and Play Store, and to discuss possible improvements.
App developers claim that Apple and Google force payment methods to be only through in-app purchases, and by taking 30% of mobile content revenue as distribution fees, they are unable to properly secure their earnings.
Currently, antitrust lawsuits against Apple and Google regarding app markets are underway in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. game developer Epic Games filed a lawsuit with the European Union’s regulatory authority, the European Commission (EC), in February, following its U.S. case, alleging that Apple violated competition laws.
In North Dakota, USA, legislation was proposed to prevent mobile app developers from paying payment fees to Apple or Google.
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