Alex Trelinski
Spain’s anti-competition regulator, the CNMC, announced on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into Apple’s App Store.
The multi-national tech giant has strongly denied any transgressions.
The CNMC said that Apple may have imposed unequal commercial conditions on developers of mobile applications sold at its app marketplace.
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The practices could be considered a very serious violation of competition law and could carry a fine worth as much as 10% of the company’s global revenues, the CNMC said.
Apple has denied imposing unequal commercial conditions on mobile application developers.
“Spanish developers of all sizes compete on a level playing field on the App Store,” it said in a statement.
“Apple will continue to work with the Spanish Competition Authority to understand and respond to their concerns,” the statement continued.
The CNMC probe follows two separate ones opened against Apple by the European Commission.
One concerns whether the firm breached the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act which seeks to ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals and another into new fees imposed on app developers.
In March, the European Commission fined Apple €1.84 billion for thwarting competition from music streaming rivals via restrictions on its App Store- the iPhone maker’s first ever penalty for breaching EU rules.
The CNMC’s investigation could take up to two years for it to be concluded.
