Khaberni - The Italian Competition Authority announced today, Monday, that it has fined Apple more than $115.69 million (98.6 million euros) for abusing its dominant position in the market, while the American company confirmed its intention to appeal the decision. The authority explained in a statement that Apple had violated competition law in the app developer market. It added that Apple enjoys an absolute dominance in this market through its app store, as reported by the Agence France-Presse, and indicated that Apple also imposed strict conditions regarding the protection of user privacy in the context of competition. The authority concluded that these unilaterally imposed conditions harmed the interests of its business partners and were disproportionate to the goal of protecting privacy.
In contrast, Apple expressed strong opposition to the decision of the Italian Competition Authority in a statement and announced its intention to appeal the decision. The company affirms that privacy rules are applied equally to all developers, including Apple itself, and have been adopted by our customers, earning praise from privacy advocates and data protection bodies worldwide. This decision comes in the context of ongoing European escalation against major technology companies, as part of the European Union's efforts to curb what it considers monopolistic practices that hinder competition and innovation in the digital economy. In recent years, app stores have become a central focus in this debate, due to their crucial role in software distribution and control over developers’ revenues and market access conditions.
Economically, app stores are among the most profitable activities in the giant technology companies' ecosystem, relying on a commission model that can reach up to 30% of the value of subscriptions and in-app purchases. With global growth slowing and digital advertising momentum declining, service revenues, led by app stores, have become a fundamental pillar in these companies' business models, explaining the intensity of the legal and regulatory conflict around this sector. European competition authorities believe that this model, when combined with complete control over market access conditions and unilaterally imposed technical rules, gives dominant companies disproportionate power to favor their services or strengthen their competitive position at the expense of smaller developers, limiting innovation and reducing consumer choices in the long term.
Privacy as a Competitive Tool
The privacy issue is one of the most sensitive aspects of the dispute. While Apple promotes its policies as part of its commitment to protecting user data, European regulatory bodies view the transformation of privacy into a regulatory tool by a dominant company as practically creating invisible barriers to entry for competitors, especially independent developers who rely on usage data to improve and market their products. This debate reflects a deeper shift in the European economic vision, where consumer protection is no longer measured only by data safety but also by the sustainability of competition and diversity of actors in the digital market.
Intersection with New European Legislation
The Italian decision intersects with the implementation of the Digital Markets Act, which imposes stringent obligations on so-called digital "gatekeepers," including Apple, with the aim of opening markets to more competition. These obligations include reducing the preference for self-services, easing restrictions on alternative payment systems, and giving developers broader access to users. Economically, these legislations are seen as a European attempt to redistribute part of the added value in the digital economy from large platforms to small and medium enterprises, and to enhance innovation in an environment suffering from an increasingly concentrated market power.
Apple's fining in Italy reflects a rising European trend to redraw the boundaries of market power for giant tech companies, and to impose a finer balance between protecting privacy and ensuring fair competition. With Apple resorting to an appeal, the case remains open to a legal confrontation that could extend its effects to the entire European digital economy, raising a fundamental question about whether privacy will continue to be a protected right for consumers, or may become, in some cases, a tool for monopolistic influence in future digital markets.
