As Apple faces an antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), one might assume that references to existing anti-competitive obstacles in Europe for the Cupertino company would be liberally sprinkled throughout the DOJ lawsuit. , just to give a little more context and moral support, at least. But Europe is barely mentioned.
However, the only time Europe is explicitly mentioned is in relation to Apple's control over digital wallets, NFC and mobile payments technology within its iOS ecosystem.
For context, the EU filed charges against Apple in May 2022, concluding that Apple “abused a dominant position” around mobile wallets by preventing rival services from accessing the iPhone's contactless NFC payment functionality. Earlier this year, Apple attempted to appease European regulators by proposing to allow third-party mobile wallets and payments services to finally access NFC on iOS for free, bypassing Apple's own wallets and payments services. With those changes now underway, at least theoretically, the Justice Department wants in on the action.
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of New Jersey, the Justice Department agreed with the EU's claim that Apple unfairly favors its own mobile payments technology, giving third-party developers little choice more than playing ball. Presentation notes:
There is no technical limitation to providing NFC access to developers looking to offer third-party wallets. For example, Apple allows merchants to use the iPhone's NFC antenna to accept tap-to-pay payments from consumers. Apple also acknowledges that it is technically It is feasible to allow an iPhone user to set another app (for example, a bank app) as the default payment app, and Apple intends to allow this functionality in Europe.
This single reference to Europe tells us something about the distinctions between two jurisdictions trying to keep a major platform controller in check.
Categories
The Justice Department's complaint about digital wallets is part of a focus on five broad categories. One of them is the so-called “super apps,” which the Department of Justice says Apple has blocked because they are “fundamentally disruptive” to Apple's own app ecosystem, since they would allow developers to introduce multiple features and mini-programs. in a single application.
Then there's cross-platform smartwatch compatibility, which the Justice Department says Apple prevents by restricting certain features from third-party smartwatch manufacturers. And cross-platform messaging has also earned a spot on the list of complaints, with the Justice Department arguing that Apple “protects its smartphone monopoly” by making iMessage iOS-only while demoting other cross-platform messaging apps that They're available.
It's worth noting here that while Europe considered forcing Apple to make iMessage interoperable with other third-party messaging apps, it decided against it.
Separately, the Department of Justice also accuses Apple of preventing developers from offering cloud gaming applications, as this would mean that developers could create games that do not require powerful hardware like the iPhone, instead of using remote servers. to “cast” games to a device. – while bundling multiple games into a single downloadable app.
In fact, Apple announced in january that would allow game streaming services like Xbox Cloud on iPhones, but the Justice Department says Apple still makes it too burdensome for developers looking to monetize their games, for example, requiring them to use Apple's own payment system and requiring design reviews specifically. for iPhone. The complaint says:
Apple's rules and restrictions effectively force developers to create a separate version of their iOS-specific app instead of creating a single cloud-based version that supports multiple operating systems, including iOS. As a result, developers spend a lot of time and resources redesigning apps to bring cross-platform apps, such as multiplayer games, to the iPhone.
One notable omission from the Justice Department's list of complaints is anti-steering practices, for which Apple was recently fined €1.84 billion in Europe; Basically, Apple would prevent iOS app developers from informing their users about cheaper ways to subscribe to their service (such as through a website). Spotify has long lobbied against this practice and is currently testing the resilience of Europe's new Digital Market Act (DMA), which has anti-steering provisions.
So while there is clearly some overlap in the issues the Justice Department and Europe are trying to address around Apple's alleged monopoly and anti-competitive practices, there are also notable divergences in terms of specific areas of focus. However, NFC, digital wallets and mobile payments are where they appear to be most clearly aligned.
