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Spain’s antitrust watchdog is expanding an investigation into Apple over concerns that the tech giant is engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.
Spain’s National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) launched the investigation in July 2024, accusing Apple of “imposing unfair commercial conditions” on the developers of mobile applications that are sold in its App Store.
Apple could be “abusing its dominant market position,” the regulators said.
On Tuesday, the CNMC said it will broaden the probe due to “new evidence” that the tech giant requires developers to follow a pricing schedule set by Apple in order to sell their apps in its marketplace.
“This would constitute conduct restricting competition between companies,” in violation of European Union law, the regulator said.
The CNMC has one more year to complete its investigation, and said the expansion “does not prejudge the outcome”.
Apple has denied the allegations, saying in a statement last year that “Spanish developers of all sizes compete on a level playing field on the App Store”.
The Spanish probe follows two investigations from the European Commission. Last year, the Commission fined Apple more than €1.8 billion in a case related to music streaming apps for iPhones and iPads.
It said Apple placed restrictions on app developers that prevented them from telling users about cheaper music subscription services available outside of its app, violating EU rules on “anti-steering provisions”.
In April, the Commission said it closed another investigation into whether Apple had violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA), after the company agreed to make it easier for users to change default settings for browsers, calling, messaging, and more.
