(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc.’s iPad has been added to a list of big tech products and services hit by tough new European Union rules aimed at stopping potential competition abuses before they don’t settle down.
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The move means Apple has six months to ensure its tablet ecosystem complies with a series of preventative measures under the EU’s flagship digital markets law.
The company’s iOS mobile operating system, its App Store and its Safari browser are already covered by the law, but Apple has challenged its designation for certain services at the EU General Court in Luxembourg, whose hearings are expected take place later this year.
The EU’s decision to include the iPad within the scope of the DMA will ensure that fairness and competition are preserved, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. She said that while not all thresholds are met, a survey showed that “iPadOS provides an important gateway that many businesses rely on to reach their customers.”
The move is a loss for Cupertino, California-based Apple, which will have to adapt its operating system to meet a series of new requirements and bans, including allowing iPad users to download apps beyond the Apple limits as well as being able to uninstall applications. preloaded on devices.
An Apple spokesperson said the company remains focused on satisfying European consumers, “while mitigating the new data privacy and security risks posed by the DMA.”
The EU DMA strikes at the heart of the business models of six of the world’s most powerful technology companies, seen as digital “gatekeepers.” In addition to Apple, Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc. and TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. have all been hit with new requirements aimed at preventing them from abusing their dominant position.
Under the law – which came into force on March 7 – it is illegal for designated companies to favor their own services over those of their competitors. They are also prohibited from combining personal data from their different services, from using the data they collect from third-party merchants to compete with them, and must allow users to download applications from competing platforms.
(Updates context throughout and comments from the EU and Apple in paragraphs four and six.)
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