Dutch Antitrust Watchdog to Investigate Whether Apple Gives Itself Preferential Treatment in App Store [Updated]

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM for short, today announced that it will investigate whether Apple abuses its position in the App Store by, for example, giving preferential treatment to its own apps.

app store iphones
ACM says the investigation will initially focus on Apple because the majority of anticompetitive allegations it has received from other companies and developers have been about the ‌App Store‌. More specifically, the investigation will revolve around Dutch apps for "news media" available in the ‌App Store‌.

ACM board member Henk Don:

To a large degree, app providers depend on Apple and Google for offering apps to users. In the market study, ACM has received indications from app providers, which seem to indicate that Apple abuses its position in the App Store. That is why ACM sees sufficient reason for launching a follow-up investigation, on the basis of competition law.

However, the antitrust watchdog stresses that Apple is innocent unless proven guilty, and also encourages developers to come forward if they experience similar problems with Google's Play Store.

ACM launched the investigation upon completion of its market study that explores the influence of app stores. For numerous apps, the watchdog found that no realistic alternatives to the ‌App Store‌ and Play Store exist, potentially giving Apple and Google the opportunity to set unfair conditions.

On the one hand, Apple and Google have an interest in offering many different apps from app providers in their app stores. On the other hand, however, Apple and Google are app providers in their own right, too. So their apps compete with those of other market participants. These competing interests may pose antitrust problems.

ACM cites unnamed developers who say they do not always have a fair chance against Apple's and Google's preinstalled apps on mobile devices, must use Apple's and Google's in-app purchase mechanisms for digital goods and services, have difficulties communicating with Apple and Google, and more.

Many of these issues are at the core of Spotify's recent complaint with the European Commission over Apple's App Store practices. Last month, the streaming music company accused Apple of "acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers" that it competes with.

The investigation's initial focus on Dutch news apps is a rather narrow one, especially considering that Apple News is not yet available in the Netherlands. But, the premise seems to be that ‌Apple News‌ is a preinstalled app while other news providers must go through the ‌App Store‌ and pay Apple's "tax."

As the ACM notes, apps have become an increasingly important part of daily life, so it will be interesting to see how these investigations play out and how they impact the future of the ‌App Store‌ and Play Store.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

Update: In a statement issued to CNN, Apple said it is "confident" the probe "will confirm all developers have an equal opportunity to succeed in the ‌App Store‌."

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

fede777 Avatar
81 months ago
Does Walmart give preference to the store brand products. Yes they do. It would be stupid on their part not to.
But you can choose to go to another store, there's no other official way to get iOS apps other than the App Store itself.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genovelle Avatar
81 months ago
Does Walmart give preference to the store brand products. Yes they do. It would be stupid on their part not to.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khedron Avatar
81 months ago
Didn’t even know the Netherlands cared.
Outside of the US there are many countries with laws designed to protect people, not corporations.

Another recent example is EA's gambling mechanics in their games being challenged by Belgium.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tokenfreak Avatar
81 months ago
But you can choose to go to another store, there's no other official way to get iOS apps other than the App Store itself.
But you could have chose android. No forces you to use Apple. If Apple owns the AppStore they should be able to do as they choose with it.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khedron Avatar
81 months ago
Apple is not a monopoly.
You're the first person to bring up that word. This is about competition laws.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khedron Avatar
81 months ago
“Only platform on iOS” is as relevant as the fact that the only place you can get Big Macs is mcdonalds. It doesn’t matter.

A monopoly actually has a definition. Can you set prices irrespective of the demand curve. And as recent evidence shows us, apple certainly cannot.
Worst analogy ever. Does McDonalds also sell Whoppers with a 30% tax?

The definition of monopoly is completely irrelevant if Netherlands competition laws aren't based on that term. It's an American concept that you can freely engage in unethical anti-consumer behaviour so long as you only have 49% of the market.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)