Apple is fighting a $2 billion EU antitrust ruling

Apple appealed against an antitrust fine imposed by European regulators amounting to almost $2 billion.

As Reuters reported on Tuesday (May 22), appeal comes after the European Commission (EC) this winter found that Apple had abused its power in the music streaming market.

The fine imposed on Apple was the first ever for violating European Union (EU) antitrust laws and one of the highest ever imposed on a company for anti-competitive practices. Apple then announced that it planned to appeal the fine.

A Reuters report indicates that it could take several years for a ruling to be issued in this case.

The European Commission imposed a fine on Apple 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion) in March, saying it found that the company prevented app developers from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services — such as competitor Apple Spotify — something that is illegal under European antitrust laws.

“Apple’s behavior, which has spanned nearly a decade, may have led many iOS users to pay significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions due to the high commission Apple imposes on developers and is passed on to consumers in the form of higher subscription prices for the same service on Apple App Store,” the EC said in a press release.

Additionally, Apple’s “anti-control provisions” caused “non-pecuniary harm” by degrading the iOS user experience by forcing users to engage in “tedious searches” before finding relevant offers outside the app, the commission said.

Apple responded by promising to appeal against the decision, while criticizing “the EC’s failure to discover any credible evidence to the detriment of consumers.”

The cancellation came a day after Apple said it was planning to do so apply for exemption in connection with an antitrust lawsuit filed by the company US Department of Justice.

The company says it faces intense competition, that customers dissatisfied with its products may find another supplier and that the government has failed to demonstrate that Apple can charge uncompetitive prices.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in March, accusing Apple of abusing its market power illegal monopoly on smartphones and digital wallets and enforces this monopoly through contractual restrictions on developers.

“We allege that Apple has maintained its monopoly position in the smartphone market not only by outperforming the competition on merits, but also by violating antitrust law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press release issued after the lawsuit. “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”

In a statement provided to PYMNTS at the time, Apple said the EU lawsuit was factually and legally wrong and that the company would “strongly” contest it.