Apple Gives Up App Market Monopoly in Europe... Surrenders to EU Pressure

Allowing 'Third-Party App Markets' for iPhone and iPad

Apple has abandoned its monopoly on the application (app) market due to pressure from the European Union (EU).

According to major foreign media on the 7th (local time), Apple has allowed game developer Epic Games to launch a 'third-party app market' on iPhone and iPad in Europe.

Epic Games, the creator of the popular game Fortnite, has been engaged in a legal dispute with Apple over the operation of the App Store since 2020. The company wants to operate its own app store on Apple's iPhone operating system, iOS, but claims that Apple is blocking this and trying to monopolize the market.

Meanwhile, a U.S. court ruled in January that Apple's policy of not allowing external payment systems outside the App Store restricts competition and recognized Epic Games' claims.

The EU Commission also provisionally concluded last month that Apple's App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA, which came into effect in March, is a law that designates platform operators above a certain size as 'gatekeepers' to regulate them in order to prevent abuse of market dominance by large platform companies. Companies that violate the DMA can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue.

Epic Games stated on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter), "Apple's refusal to allow the launch of an app market has been arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA," adding, "We have shared our concerns with the EU Commission."