DMA regulatory storm resurfaces: Apple may face another lawsuit from the EU due to App Store rules

According to reports from media citing informed sources, if American consumer electronics giant Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) does not quickly rectify certain behaviors accused of violating the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), it may soon receive another lawsuit from the European Commission; previously, a portion of the violations had resulted in a fine of 500 million euros earlier this year. EU officials are preparing to issue an ultimatum to Apple, demanding that it allow developers to inform customers about cheaper deals available outside the App Store; the deadline for this is June 26.

According to media reports, if Apple fails to comply with the relevant requirements, this measure will lead to further fines imposed on Apple by the EU. If Apple can submit an upcoming plan that adequately addresses the concerns of the EU antitrust authorities, it still has a chance to avoid an escalation of regulatory issues.

Neither Apple nor the European Commission immediately responded to media requests for comments.

In April of this year, the European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros for violating the DMA's "anti-steering" obligations. EU regulators stated at the time that they had informed Apple of their preliminary views, believing that Apple's contractual terms regarding alternative app distribution violated DMA provisions. Meta Platforms (META), the parent company of Facebook, was also fined 200 million euros for allegedly violating DMA regulations.

An Apple spokesperson told the media that EU regulators have continuously changed compliance requirements for the DMA regulations, making it impossible for the company to adhere to its "steering" decisions. Apple pointed out that the company has invested hundreds of thousands of work hours to adapt to the EU's ever-changing regulatory requirements.

A spokesperson for the European Commission stated to the media that the Commission would not engage in irrelevant speculation about next steps while Apple still has time to submit a response plan. The spokesperson added that if Apple continues to violate DMA regulations, regulators have sufficient enforcement powers at their disposal.

Earlier in June of this year, Apple stated that it was seriously questioning a coercive order from the European Commission; this order requires it to make its operating system iOS more compatible with products from competing technology companies under the DMA.

As early as September 2023, the European Commission first listed six "gatekeeper" large tech companies—Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Amazon (AMZN.US), Apple (AAPL.US), Meta (META.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), and Chinese tech giant ByteDance—on its regulatory list under the DMA. Certain products offered by these companies are simultaneously regulated by both the DMA and the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA aims to regulate and oversee the online intermediary services and platforms used daily by millions of Europeans, protecting European consumers and their online rights