What you need to know
- Apple is at the center of an Indian antitrust investigation.
- Indian authorities believe Apple's App Store might be anticompetitive.
- The App Store's 30% fee on digital sales is at the heart of the problem.
India is the latest country to take a closer look at Apple and the way it runs its App Store, according to a new report. The country's antitrust investigation wants to know whether Apple's 30% cut is impacting software makers and stifling competition.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Indian Competition Commission is of the initial belief that Apple has violated local antitrust laws. The move comes in response to a complaint that was made by a nonprofit group relating to the way Apple charges a 30% fee on the sale of digital goods via the App Store.
The watchdog was responding to a complaint earlier last year from an Indian nonprofit group alleging that a 30% fee Apple charges developers selling digital content via their apps harms software makers and stifles competition. Apple has denied the claims, saying it is focused on making its devices as attractive as possible to consumers, according to the order.
Today's WSJ report comes days after a similar one from TechCrunch that noted an investigation will be completed within 60 days.
Arguments between Apple, developers, and whole countries relating to the App Store are nothing new. The infamous spat with Epic Games continues to rumble on, while Russia opened a similar antitrust case just a couple of months ago.
The WSJ report goes on to note that India is beginning to turn the screw on international companies in the country as its citizens move online.
