EU imposes 2.7 trillion won fine on Apple for antitrust law violation

The European Union (EU) Commission imposed a fine of 1.84 billion euros (approximately 2.7 trillion won) on Apple on the 4th (local time) for violating antitrust laws related to its music streaming application (app) service. This amount corresponds to 0.5% of Apple's global sales, marking the first time Apple has been fined by the EU for antitrust violations.

Seoul Apple Store Gangnam. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Margrethe Vestager, the EU Executive Vice President, held a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on the same day and stated, "Apple abused its dominant market position in the distribution of music streaming apps." Initially, the market predicted the EU fine to be around 500 million euros (720 billion won), but the actual fine was nearly four times that amount.

The Commission's investigation found that Apple engaged in "unfair practices," such as restricting external music streaming app developers from informing iPhone and iPad iOS users that they could subscribe to cheaper services without using the App Store. The Commission declared, "This is illegal under EU antitrust regulations."

Apple is reportedly planning to appeal the EU Commission's decision. Previously, Apple was fined 1.1 billion euros (approximately 1.6 trillion won) in France in 2020 for antitrust violations but reduced the fine to 372 million euros (approximately 540 billion won) after an appeal.

Meanwhile, this EU Commission decision follows a complaint filed by the music streaming app Spotify in 2019, alleging that Apple prevented fair competition with its own service, Apple Music. Spotify claimed that due to Apple's monopolistic App Store policies, it was forced to raise its monthly subscription fees.