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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Apple has been put under investigation by Spanish antitrust officials, who allege that the iPhone maker might be “imposing unfair trading conditions on developers” who use its App Store.
- The regulator said Apple could be fined up to 10% of its total global turnover if it is found guilty of violating the country’s competition law.
- The Spanish probe comes amid a slew of European Union probes on the iPhone maker for alleged anticompetitive practices.
Apple (AAPL) has been put under investigation by Spanish antitrust officials, who allege that the iPhone maker might be “imposing unfair trading conditions on developers” who use its App Store.
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) said it is investigating whether Apple is carrying out anti-competitive practices on third-party developers.
The regulator said Apple could be fined up to 10% of its total global turnover if it is found guilty of violating the country’s competition law.
Apple didn’t immediately return an Investopedia request for comment.
Spanish Antitrust Probe Comes Amid EU Investigations
The Spanish probe comes amid a slew of European Union (EU) investigations of Apple for alleged anticompetitive practices.
Earlier this month, the company settled its “tap and go” payments probe with the European Commission (EC), the EU’s enforcement arm, opening its mobile wallet to rivals for free in a bid to avoid antitrust fines.
The company was also preliminarily found in violation of Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) last month because users weren’t able to be “steered” away from the App Store to make payments.
In March, the EU gave Spotify a boost when it fined Apple around $2 billion (1.8 billion euros) for “abusive App store rules for music streaming providers.”
Apple shares were down almost 2% to $220.73 as of 10:25 a.m. ET Wednesday. They are up 15% this year.