BRUSSELS: EU rejects Apple’s European App Store changes: Company could be fined 10% of global turnover.

As we predicted, the EU has today announced that it is not satisfied with the changes Apple has made, and the company is now subject to a non-compliance investigation. Google and Meta are also under investigation for their own responses to the DMA.

Another DMA requirement was for Apple to ensure that iPhone users had a free choice of web browser. The company announced that it would make this possible with a new option screen during iPhone setup.

This has now been implemented, and seems to be having at least some small effect. However, the EU is not satisfied with the specifics of this – which may simply be down to the wording used. This one is likely to be easily resolved.

The maximum fines allowed under many laws are trivial for a company of Apple’s size – but this is not the case with the DMA.

Apple’s 2023 turnover was $383B, which could mean fines of up to $38 billion initially, rising to $76 billion.

Having strangled European innovation to death with regulation, the EU’s new mission is to bleed successful foreign innovators dry.