Posted 14 Feb. 2022 at 06:58 PM
This may not be the Valentine’s Day message Tim Cook was hoping for. On Monday, the Dutch Competition Authority imposed a new fine of 5 million euros on Apple. This is the fourth in a month, sanctioning the Californian group’s failure to comply with a decision made just before Christmas. This forces Apple to make a major departure from the rules of its App Store: allowing dating applications (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Meetic, etc.) to bypass its payment system in the Netherlands.
Against bad luck good heart, Apple has made a series of proposals ten days ago. But Amsterdam is not satisfied with this apparent compliance judged at a minimum. The conditions imposed by Apple on developers are seen as “unnecessary and unreasonable” by the Dutch antitrust. The obligation to develop a new app and submit it for approval on the App Store before persuading users to change it is particularly singled out.
The commission jackpot
The Authority, however, did not comment on the 27% commission rate that Apple wants to apply to future payments made by a third party. However, this is very close to the standard rate of 30% – denounced by many developers as a symptom of Apple’s monopolistic behavior. It is even much higher than the reduced rate of 15% that Apple applies in many cases, especially for subscriptions after the first year.
If it wants to escape new weekly sanctions, the American giant will have to make extra efforts to respect the Dutch decision. It won’t be easy. Apple is fighting with all its might against this opening of its ecosystem. The group insists that this would harm the experience of its users, the security of their transactions and their personal data. It is also keen to retain control over payments in the App Store – which brought in between $11 billion and $26 billion in 2021.