Apple is appealing an EU decision that would impose tough new obligations on Apple's App Store under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Reuters reports that Apple's appeal opposes the European Commission's so-called "gatekeeper" designation of its App Store and iMessage services.
According to Reuters, Apple argued that the European Commission's decision to treat the App Store on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch as a single store was based on "material factual errors" because they all distribute apps for specific platforms and device types.
In addition to the AppStore, the European Commission is also investigating whether iMessage should also be designated as a core platform service under DMA, which may result in Apple being forced to implement interoperability between its messaging services and other services. Reuters reported that Apple objected to this, saying that iMessage does not charge a fee and does not make money from the sale of hardware or personal data.
Most recently, it's unlikely to be a coincidence that Apple announced that iPhones will support RCS, a cross-platform standard considered to be the successor to SMS and MMS in 2024. Apple says it intends to support RCS "alongside iMessage" and will still use blue and green bubbles to differentiate between different messaging standards. It's unclear what impact this statement will have on the EU's investigation into iMessage.
Being designated a "core platform service" under the DMA will bring a series of obligations to Apple's App Store. As the EU FAQ explains, gatekeepers (that is, companies operating core platform services) must not favor their own products or services on their platforms over competitors, need to allow business users to promote services provided outside the platform, and cannot force developers to use specific services, such as payment systems.
The rules have the potential to address major complaints from companies like Epic Games and Spotify about the way Apple's App Store operates. The iPhone maker recently said its App Store had 123 million monthly active users in the European Union, citing regulations under the bloc's separate but related Digital Services Act.
When the European Commission announced the core platform services list of the Digital Services Act in early September, it also included Safari and iOS, which will impose similar strict obligations on Apple at the browser and operating system levels. Meta and TikTok also disputed its DMA designation.
Apple's filing is the latest front in the company's battle with European regulators. The company is also embroiled in a protracted dispute over a €13 billion ($14.1 billion) tax bill in Ireland, as well as an investigation into Apple Pay and its App Store policies.
According to previous reports by Bloomberg, although Apple is appealing the EU's decision, Apple still needs to comply with relevant regulations before March 6 while the appeal is being processed. The company recently said in a filing that it "expects to make further business adjustments in the future, including those resulting from legislative initiatives affecting the App Store."