Apple confirmed as gatekeeper for iOS and the App Store
According to the EU Court, the Commission’s decision is correct. The various versions of the digital ‘shop’ constitute a single basic platform service
Key points
The General Court of the European Union has dismissed the appeals brought by Apple against the Commission’s designation of it as a gatekeeper for the App Store and iOS. The company has created devices such as iPhone and iPad, as well as their proprietary mobile operating systems (iOS and iPadOS respectively), and operates five software application stores: the iOS App Store (for iPhone mobile phones), the iPadOS App Store (for iPad tablets), the watchOS App Store (for Apple Watches), the macOS App Store (for Mac computers) and the tvOS App Store (for Apple TV set-top boxes).
In accordance with the Digital Markets Act (Digital Markets Act), on 5 September 2023 the European Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper for the App Store, the iOS operating system and the Safari browser. This designation may be applied to large digital companies that provide core platform services – tools that act as intermediaries between businesses wishing to offer their services online and end users – provided they meet certain size criteria and exert market influence. Companies designated in this way are subject to specific obligations aimed at ensuring fair competition.
The EU Court’s position
Firstly, the Court declares inadmissible the plea of illegality raised by Apple against the provision of the Digital Markets Act concerning the interoperability obligations imposed on undertakings designated as gatekeepers. The judgment observes that this provision constitutes neither the legal basis for the designation decision nor a provision with a direct legal link to it; consequently, its alleged unlawfulness cannot be used to support an application for annulment.
Furthermore, the General Court confirms the Commission’s assessment that the various versions of the App Store constitute a single basic platform service (BPS). The European judges thus emphasise that, regardless of the devices concerned, these stores have an identical purpose, namely to bring together application developers and end users in order to facilitate the distribution of software applications.
In the Court’s view, the differences highlighted by Apple to argue that each store constituted a separate SPB, to the extent that only the iOS App Store met the thresholds required to be identified as a gatekeeper , relate to the specific characteristics of the devices used and do not justify the distinction between different core platform services.
