Apple and Microsoft get a break from EU as iMessage and Bing won't be considered gatekeepers

The European Commission has announced that Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising should not be designated as gatekeepers under its Digital Markets Act (DMA). The decision was arrived at following four market investigations which were launched on 5 September 2023.

For a bit of background, Apple and Microsoft are listed as gatekeepers because they meet three criteria: 1) they have a significant impact on the internal market, 2) they provide a specified service that is an important gateway for business users to reach end users, and 3) they enjoy an entrenched and durable position.

Apple and Microsoft will continue being considered gatekeepers but the aforementioned services are excluded from this designation. Other companies designated as gatekeepers include Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, and Meta; they are all subjected to new requirements from the EU from March 2024.

The Commission decided to exclude these products and services from gatekeeper rules after Apple and Microsoft submitted rebuttal requests for an in-depth analysis of them. After taking into account the arguments of the two companies, the Commission decided that these products and services should be excluded from the new rules.

One of the main rules introduced by the DMA is that companies cannot treat their own offerings more favorably than those offered by their competitors. The rules also give third parties the ability to interoperate with their own services and give business users access to data generated on the platforms of gatekeeper companies.

A notable aspect of the DMA is that the penalties are pretty severe. Failure to comply with the rules can mean fines of up to 10% of a company’s worldwide annual turnover or up to 20% when there have been repeated infringements. Companies could also face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily turnover and other remedies.

Apple and Microsoft will no doubt be pleased with the outcomes. The results are a little bit surprising given how important iMessage, Bing, and Edge are to the respective companies.

Source: European Commission

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