EC opens antitrust probe into Apple Pay, Apple’s App Store

Enlarge / 08 January 2019, Hessen, Russelsheim: ILLUSTRATION - The App Store (M) logo can be seen on the screen of an iPhone. Photo: Silas Stein/dpa (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The European Commission has opened two formal antitrust investigations into Apple's App Store and its Apple Pay payment system.

The investigation into the App Store comes after a complaint from Spotify in March 2019 and a subsequent complaint from e-reader company Kobo over how Apple takes a 30 percent commission on every subscription signed up through its App Store in the first year, and then a 15 percent cut.

At the same time, the companies complained, Apple has promoted its own music and books services. The European Commission is also looking at whether App Store rules stifle competition in gaming and cloud services, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.

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