Technology

Spotify's CEO points out Apple's new App Store policies in the European Union, calling them "Extortion"

2024-02-01 02:41:29

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek weighed in on the App Store's policy changes in Europe in recent days. and accused of entering It is also said to be a "new low". It called "extortion" and said it would punish developers trying to expand their businesses. The criticism comes just days after the tech giant announced several changes to its European App Store policies. To comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA)

Additionally, on Platform Instead of complying with the new regulations, he also claims that Apple's new policies could lead to exorbitant fees for developers. Even the lowest-paid free apps can require a hefty price if they have a large number of users in the EU.

He also said the charges could create problems for high-revenue apps such as Spotify. The Swedish music streaming service has about 100 million EU users on Apple devices, which could cause the charges. Apple's new money is "untenable" for the company in the long run And he believes the new charges could increase Spotify's customer acquisition costs tenfold. This is because Apple must be paid for every app installation and update. Even for those who no longer use the service.

Although the DMA is designed to prevent big tech companies from abusing their market power, But Apple's new policy appears to have the opposite effect. The new system is designed to prevent developers from using alternative app stores to distribute their apps. This will help Apple maintain its monopoly on the App Store. It remains to be seen whether the change will be approved by the EU. Or would it force Apple to truly comply with the DMA's provisions and open iOS to third-party app distributors without taxing Apple heavily?