It proceeds the antitrust process of Europe against Apple. The investigation launched in 2020 against the NFC limitations of the iPhone, Apple Watch and company which, according to the Commission, unfairly stems competition is enriched with a new passage. According to the Financial Times, Apple will be accused of precluding PayPal and other third party services from using the chip for contactless payments.
The FT reports that Europe is determined to get to the bottom of the matter, with Apple facing heavy penalties if the wrongdoing is established. The Commission has focused on iPhones, if only because it has a much larger user base than other devices with NFC chips for payments. According to rumors the accusation will be formalized shortly, in the month of May. Apple opposed the opening of the NFC chip to third parties, motivating its limitation with the desire to protect the privacy and security of its customers.
If the conclusion of the affair proves unfavorable to Cupertino, the company would risk one fine which at worst it could even reach 10% of the global turnover: Apple travels on an average of $ 100 billion a quarter, which translates into about $ 400 billion in annual revenue, plus dozen or so fewer. In the worst case (for Apple), Europe could therefore impose a fine of 40 billion dollars on it.
Apple hasn’t been “running” well lately. In the Netherlands it is fined weekly for the affair involving dating apps, Europe itself is developing DMA and DSA that could force it to “open” the App Store to alternative payment systems and allow users to install apps from any virtual shop. The CEO Tim Cook in recent days he exposed himself in the first person by firmly opposing the measures in the air:
[Significherebbe] that data-hungry companies may avoid our privacy rules and go back to tracking our users against their will. It could also provide criminals with an easy way to bypass security measures, putting them in direct contact with our users – he said justifying the company’s uncompromising stance at the helm.
