Germany's competition regulator to take closer look at Apple

The German government's competition regulator is setting a stricter course for monitoring US tech giant Apple, reported dpa.

"The Bundeskartellamt decided that Apple Inc. based in Cupertino, USA, is an undertaking of paramount significance for competition across markets," the country's Federal Cartel Office said on Wednesday.

"Apple and its subsidiaries are thus subject to extended abuse control pursuant to Section 19a of the German Competition Act."

"Apple has an economic position of power across markets which gives rise to a scope of action that is not sufficiently controlled by competition," the regulator's president Andreas Mundt said.

"Based on its mobile end devices such as the iPhone, Apple operates a wide-ranging digital ecosystem which is of great importance to competition not only in Germany, but also throughout Europe and the world. With its proprietary products iOS and the App Store, Apple holds a key position for competition as well as for gaining access to the ecosystem and Apple customers," he added.

"This decision enables us to specifically take action against and effectively prohibit anti-competitive practices."

In an initial reaction, the tech giant said that "the classification of the Federal Cartel Office misrepresents the tough competition that Apple is exposed to in Germany."

Apple wants to appeal the decision, which was taken under a new provision of the German Competition Act allowing for earlier intervention in the practices of large digital companies.

In January 2022, the German regulator classified Google's parent firm Alphabet as a company of paramount significance for competition across markets. It did the same regarding Facebook group Meta in May and online retailer Amazon in July last year.