Apple's App Store faces international investigations into whether it violates antitrust laws, including not allowing a 30 per cent commission and the existence of third-party app stores. An investigation into one of them, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), showed that Apple retorted that App Store did not monopolize the market because developers had "multiple" application distribution methods such as Web.
ZDnet in the US said Apple had submitted documents to address ACCC's concerns about "alleged use of market power in its relationship as an app publisher", stressing that developers can use a variety of tools when delivering applications to users.
Specifically, what is the means of delivery other than App Store? what Apple says is "the whole Web", and Web itself is the proposition of the platform. It points out that iOS devices can access Web "without restriction and control" and that users can download Web applications.
In fact, Web browsers can host not only video and content distribution, but also PWA (Web applications that run like native applications in the browser window) without having to download them on App Store. PWA is becoming more and more widespread not only on PC, but also on mobile browsers and devices such as iOS.
Apple claims that such alternative publishing methods such as Web apps and developer sites pose a competitive threat to App Store. He also mentioned other companies' platforms, such as the Google Play Store, which he said were fighting "energetically" to attract developers to create applications for their platforms.
But the truth is that Apple does not allow local apps that are not Web apps outside the App Store, nor does it allow third-party app stores, nor is it possible (without jailbreak) to side-load apps like Android that are not distributed in official stores. The closeness of these App Store is pointed out by Google itself, which is proposed by Apple.
Apple's claim is unlikely to be accepted by Epic Games, which is in the midst of a massive anti-monopoly law lawsuit, and by Spotify, which has sued Apple to EU regulators. It should be noted that Epic Fortnight also does not involve "prohibiting proprietary payment systems that do not pass through App Store", which is the direct cause of removal from App Store.
ACCC will release its interim report on March 31st. Apple's proposal has also been taken into account. Whether it will be considered that there is no market monopoly and whether severe measures such as fines will be taken, I would like to pay attention to the future development.
Source:ZDnet
Via:MacRumors
