Apple Korea Pledges $84 Million to Support Small Businesses and Settle Antitrust Probe
Apple's South Korea business has offered to make a 100 billion won ($84 million) payout to support small businesses and help consumers, according to the country's competition watchdog (via Reuters).
The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) investigated Apple Korea in 2016 for requiring SK Telecom, KT Corp, and LG Uplus Corp to pay the cost of television advertisements and warranty service for its iPhones. The probe found that Apple holds a clear advantage over local mobile carriers and that handing over the cost of advertisements was another means of squeezing the profits of the carriers.
In June of this year, the antitrust regulator decided to allow Apple to map out a set of measures to address its anti-competitive business practices in the country, and Apple has now agreed to fix unfair terms with mobile carriers as part of its proposal. Apple said it will discuss how to share advertising costs with telecoms firms, which will help reduce burdens to carriers, the KFTC said in a briefing.
Apple has reportedly pledged to offer 40 billion won ($34 million) to build a center to support research and development for Korea's small manufacturers and 25 billion won ($21 million) to establish an "academy" to provide education to developers. The rest of the 100 billion won would be used to give consumer discounts on warranty repair costs and other benefits, according to Reuters.
Provided the KFTC accepts Apple's offer, the regulator will close the case and conclude that Apple has not done anything illegal.
Even if that does happen though, Apple could be facing another probe by Korean regulators for its business practices. Last week, an alliance of app developers and small companies submitted a petition to the Korea Communications Commission asking for an investigation into whether Apple and Google may be violating Korean laws on in-app purchases and anti-competitive behavior.
Popular Stories
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
