The European Union’s competition commission is investigating Apple Pay and the iOS App Store for potential breaches of European competition rules after complaints from Spotify and others. If found guilty, Apple could face penalties of up to 10 per cent of its annual global revenue and be forced to change its business practices. Apple said the commission was “advancing baseless complaints from a handful of companies who simply want a free ride, and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: In May 2019, Spotify claimed Apple uses its App Store to stifle innovation and limit consumer choice in favor of its own Apple Music service. Rakuten filed a similar complaint to the EU earlier this year, alleging that it’s anti-competitive for Apple to take a 30 per cent commission on e-books sold through the App Store while promoting its own Apple Books service. The Commission promised to carry its two investigations out “as a matter of priority.” The investigations also come a day after Apple touted the findings of a new study it commissioned that says the App Store was responsible for US$519 billion in estimated total billings and sales of both physical and digital products and services in 2019.