Apple Antitrust

Switzerland's competition authority has launched a preliminary investigation into whether Apple's terms for granting third-party access to NFC technology on iPhones violate its antitrust laws. The Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission opened the probe on December 10 to examine whether rival mobile payment apps can compete fairly with Apple Pay for contactless payments in stores. ...

Apple is not going to be able to escape a class-action antitrust lawsuit over anticompetitive App Store fees in the Netherlands, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said today. The decision could see Apple facing millions of euros in damages, and it sets a precedent for similar lawsuits in other European countries (via Reuters). Apple could ultimately have to pay up to an estimated 637...

The EU has begun looking into whether Apple Maps and Apple Ads should be designated as "gatekeepers" and subject to greater regulation (via Reuters). The App Store, iOS, and Safari were classified as gatekeepers two years ago, triggering strict requirements in the EU such as support for alternative app marketplaces and third-party payment options. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), any...

Apple is fighting an antitrust penalty law in India that could require it to pay massive fines in its ongoing antitrust dispute with Tinder owner Match, reports Reuters. Last year, India passed a law that allows the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to use global turnover when calculating penalties imposed on companies for abusing market dominance. Apple can be fined up to 10 percent,...

Poland's antitrust regulator is investigating whether Apple is restricting competition in the mobile ads market through its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, reports Reuters. Introduced in April 2021 with the release of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, Apple's ATT framework requires that all apps on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ ask for the user's consent before tracking their activity...

Apple today challenged the funding behind a $4 billion UK lawsuit during a tribunal hearing, raising new concerns about the iCloud class action as the company battles further antitrust scrutiny. The case was initiated by consumer group Which on behalf of consumers, alleging that Apple's iCloud storage practices lock users into the service and cause them to pay more for cloud storage than...

Apple and OpenAI were not able to get a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's xAI startup dismissed, reports Bloomberg. Texas District Judge Mark Pittman said today that Apple and OpenAI will need to continue on with the lawsuit and submit filings arguing their case. xAI sued Apple and OpenAI in August 2025, accusing the two companies of conspiring to dominate the AI market. The lawsuit came after...

Apple was today denied permission from the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to appeal a ruling that found its App Store commission practices to be unlawful and could result in damages of over $1 billion. The hearing follows a decision made in October by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) saying that Apple unlawfully abused its position in the distribution of iOS apps. The case was brought ...

Apple has been designated with strategic market status (SMS) in the United Kingdom for iOS and iPadOS, a move that empowers regulators to impose binding requirements that could compel changes such as permitting rival app stores and direct software downloads. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the designation today in a press release, announcing that Apple and Google both...

A law firm in China has filed a new antitrust complaint accusing Apple of abusing its control over iOS app distribution and payments, escalating a dispute that previously failed in civil court by seeking action from state regulators instead, Reuters reports. The new complaint was submitted to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on behalf of 55 Chinese iPhone and iPad users. ...

Apple has filed a court motion to dismiss Elon Musk's lawsuit alleging the company conspired with OpenAI to stifle competition in the AI market, arguing the antitrust claims are based on "speculation on top of speculation." In a Texas filing Tuesday, Apple's lawyers defended the company's decision to integrate ChatGPT into iOS, claiming it did nothing wrong in selecting OpenAI as its initial ...

Apple is urging European regulators to scrap the Digital Markets Act (DMA), claiming it has created security vulnerabilities and damaged the user experience, not to mention caused at least three of its product features to be postponed or delayed indefinitely. In a statement posted to its website, Apple says EU users now face exposure to malware through mandatory third-party app stores, with...

Colombia's competition authority has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Apple, alleging that the company has abused its dominant position in the distribution of apps and purchases on iOS and iPadOS. The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) announced the probe yesterday (via MobileTime), stating that its Delegation for the Protection of Competition had reached a...

Apple has warned that UK users could face delayed product features if the country's regulators proceed with "EU-style rules" that seek to make it easier for smaller firms to compete with big tech companies. Apple told the BBC that proposed regulations from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) "are bad for users and bad for developers," and pointed to the European Union's Digital...

Elon Musk's xAI startup today filed a Texas lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, accusing the two companies of conspiring to "ensure their continued dominance" in the AI market. Earlier this month, Musk threatened to sue Apple and OpenAI because his apps X and Grok have not been featured in the App Store's "Must Have" apps section, and he has now followed through with that threat. The...

Britain's competition regulator has today outlined sweeping proposals that could force Apple to fundamentally alter how it operates its App Store, Safari browser, and iOS ecosystem in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a detailed roadmap of potential interventions after proposing to designate both Apple and Google with "strategic market status" under new digital...

Swiss company Proton today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing Apple of violating U.S. antitrust law. Proton is technically joining an existing May 23 class-action lawsuit against Apple that includes several Korean developers, but it has filed its own legal complaint. Proton is known for Proton Mail, an email service that uses client-side encryption for security. In a blog post...

Apple failed in its attempt to get the antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Department of Justice filed against it dismissed, reports Reuters. U.S. District Judge Julien Neals, who is overseeing the case, today denied Apple's motion for dismissal. Apple asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit in August of last year, arguing that the DOJ's complaint failed to demonstrate anticompetitive conduct,...

Apple has lost a legal challenge in the Netherlands after a Dutch court ruled that the company abused its dominant market position by imposing restrictive payment terms on dating app developers (via Reuters). The ruling was issued earlier today by the Rotterdam District Court, confirming a 2021 decision by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which found that Apple violated ...

Apple has filed an appeal against the European Union's Digital Markets Act interoperability requirements, calling the rules "deeply flawed" and a threat to user security (via The Wall Street Journal). Apple submitted its challenge to the EU's General Court in Luxembourg on May 30, targeting the Commission's March decision that requires Apple to make iOS more compatible with rival products...