European regulators are reportedly set to fine Apple more than $500 million, saying the tech giant has unfairly hindered its rivals in the music streaming space.
Antitrust regulators at the European Commission are preparing to fine Apple AAPL nearly 500 million euros ($539 million), the Financial Times and Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
After it was found to have created an anti-competitive environment by failing to inform iPhone users that cheaper alternative music streaming apps were available outside its App Store.
The investigation was initiated due to a complaint that Spotify SA SPOT,
It was introduced in 2019. While EU regulators have previously imposed large antitrust fines against big tech companies like Google's Alphabet GOOGL,
Google,
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT),
It has never imposed an antitrust fine against Apple.
The Financial Times reported that the fine is expected to be announced in early March.
Apple declined to comment on Sunday, but pointed to an earlier statement that said, “The App Store has helped Spotify become the best music streaming service across Europe and we hope the European Commission will end its pursuit of a baseless complaint.”
Meanwhile, the Financial Times and Bloomberg also reported that the European Commission is close to accepting a settlement from Apple in a separate antitrust case, over its Apple Pay system.
