Apple The iPhone maker has quite a few “very serious” problems under the excellent EU rules designed to curb the massive technology corporations, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told CNBC on Tuesday. Reports had previously emerged that regulators were preparing charges against the iPhone maker.
In March, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, launched an investigation into Apple. alphabet and Meta under the excellent technology laws Digital Markets Act, which got here into force this 12 months.
The investigation centered on several concerns about Apple, including whether the tech giant is stopping corporations from offering their users cheaper product options or subscriptions outside of the App Store.
“We have a number of problems with Apple; I consider them very serious. I was very surprised that there were such suspicions that Apple was not complying with the regulations,” Vestager told CNBC's Silvia Amaro.
Apple didn’t immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment.
“[Apple] are very important because a lot of good business is done through the App Store and through payment mechanisms. So even though I can say that this is not what you would expect from a company like this, we will of course pursue this with the same priority as any other business.”
Vestager added that the outcomes of the investigation can be published “hopefully soon”.
The comments come after the Financial Times Last week, it was reported that Brussels would bring charges against Apple under the Digital Markets Act in reference to the investigation, naming three individuals with extensive knowledge of the investigation. The charges can be provisional and Apple could take steps to deal with regulators' concerns, in accordance with the Financial Times.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm the report.
If Apple violates the provisions of the Digital Markets Act, it faces fines of as much as 10% of the corporate's total annual worldwide turnover.
During her ten-year tenure as EU competition commissioner, Vestager has made it a priority to limit the facility of massive technology corporations to create a level playing field across the 27-nation bloc.
She led a number of the largest investigations into technology corporations, including Google parent Alphabet, and fined tech giants billions of dollars. As she prepares to depart office, several investigations remain ongoing, including an antitrust probe into Microsoft's bundling of the Teams video and chat app with other Office products.
At the tip of her term in office, Vestager said she was looking forward to the peace and quiet.
“Well, I'll probably sleep for a month or so, because it's been ten years of stress,” Vestager said. “I'm kind of looking forward to a new chapter.”
image credit : www.cnbc.com