European Union regulators are scrutinizing Apple Inc.’s AAPL 0.00%↑ Maps and advertising services for possible breaches of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, marking the latest chapter in ongoing tensions between Brussels and the California-based tech giant.
The European Commission received notification from Apple that both Apple Maps and Apple Ads meet the thresholds for “gatekeeper” status under the DMA, which targets dominant digital platforms to ensure fair competition. Gatekeepers must provide core platform services — such as social networks, browsers or messaging apps — while serving at least 45 million monthly end users in the EU, 10,000 annual business users and either a market capitalization of 75 billion euros or annual revenue of 7.5 billion euros.
Apple, which is legally required to self-report potential violations, has requested exemptions for the two services. The commission now has 45 days to assess whether they qualify as gatekeepers. If confirmed, Apple would have six months to align the services with DMA rules, which aim to prevent anti-competitive practices like preferential treatment for a company’s own products.
This probe adds to a string of EU actions against Apple. In one example, regulators previously forced the company to allow third-party app stores on iPhones in the bloc and to adopt USB-C charging ports by 2024.
