Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) US-based tech giant Apple is reportedly preparing to allow rival app stores on its range of mobile phones and tablets in an apparent effort to comply with the European Union’s new legal regulations on tech multinationals.
According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to allow so-called “side-loading” on its phones and tablets as soon as late last year, opening up its walled garden ecosystem to rival companies. The change is currently planned only within the European Union, and is likely intended to keep the company in compliance with the bloc’s new Digital Markets Act.
The plan represents a huge break with Apple’s business policy, and could ostensibly be construed as the first major victory for the EU’s new digital regulations. The Cuppertino-based company previously kept a tight grip on its app ecosystem, allowing only apps vetted through its proprietary app store to be installed on its devices.
This practice allowed the company to dictate its terms to app developers. Apple’s iOS devices account for nearly half of the US market, making them a key target for any developer seeking to reach a significant number of potential customers. Apple, in turn, also profited from mandating all payments need to be done through its proprietary payment system, as well, charging a 30-percent fee to all developers for payments made for in-app purchases.
Apple justified its business practices by claiming its careful curation of its ecosystem guaranteed greater security and stability for its users, puting privacy, data security and transaction security front and centre. The view from the EU, on the other hand, has been that Apple’s policy of creating a walled garden limited consumer choice and stifled innovation.
The US company is now reportedly ready to allow third party applications to be “side-loaded” on their devices, either directly or through a third-party app store, opening the iOS market up for potential offers from Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, as well as other potential players in the market.
It remains unclear, however, whether Apple would allow for the existence of alternative payment systems – one of its major sources of revenue. Some 10 billion dollars were spent in the App store by consumers last year, according to industry estimates, meaning Apple would receive some 3 billion dollars from these transactions.
The DMA provisions will likely start being enforced starting in mid-2024. Key provisions aim to break up all big tech walled gardens, and force large international technology companies to open up their platforms to fair competition, with the goal of increasing user choice and spurring innovation.
The Act describes so-called “gatekeepers”, platforms that act as an indispensable intermediary between business users and consumers for a significant number of users. Companies found to be in violation of DMA will be facing fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.
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