Brazil joins the list of countries calling for an immediate and definitive end to Apple’s anticompetitive practices with its App Store. A long-standing request which responds to a complaint filed in 2022. The same problem as in the United States, Japan, Europe and many other countries where the App Store is available.
Brazil says stop!
Just like the European Commission in the European Union, the antitrust regulator in Brazil demands that Apple immediately end its practices deemed anticompetitive regarding the App Store payment system. The famous debate on the 30% commission imposed on developers and the impossibility of circumventing it by offering an internal payment method via an application distributed on the Apple store.
Brazilian justice takes action! Apple has 20 days to make the required changes and comply with the new rules in force in the country. If the company does not comply within this deadline, a daily fine of $43,000 will be applied indefinitely until it comes into compliance. An extremely short deadline that Apple will of course not be able to meet. The objective is to force the firm to react quickly to demand and to propose modifications in the near future.
The decision by Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) comes following a complaint filed in 2022 by MercadoLibre, an online commerce giant in Latin America. This complaint highlighted the inability for iOS developers to redirect users to external payment options. A requirement which, in 2024, no longer finds acceptance anywhere in the world, not even in the United States, Apple’s country of origin.
Brazil is not in the habit of joking with Apple. In 2022, the country had already removed iPhones from reseller stores following the disappearance of the mains charger in the box by Apple. Despite fines, Apple did not want to reverse its decision. Let’s see what happens this time around the App Store.
