App stores are increasingly being seen as a bottleneck
Germany’s competition authority is wasting no time making use of its new powers, with this now the fourth investigation it has started (Facebook, Google and Amazon are all under similar scrutiny). This one in particular will examine whether with its proprietary operating system iOS, Apple has created a digital ecosystem around its iPhone that extends across several markets. A main focus of the investigations will be on the operation of the App Store and how it might enable Apple to influence the business activities of third parties. This is now a common area of interest with the US and UK to have shifted the focus to here following the EC’s investigations around Apple and Spotify. The concern has been the in-app purchasing system and the size of the commission Apple takes, which has remained stable at 30% for some time.
