Italy’s Competition and Market authority (AGCM) has fined Apple €98.6 million for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the iOS app distribution market.

Following an investigation, Italian regulators have said that Apple holds an “absolute dominant position” through the App Store, the only official channel that allows developers to reach iOS users, with the tech giant violating European competition rules by placing developers at a disadvantage.

The competition watchdog says that Apple has breached Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits the abuse of a dominant position by one or more companies in the internal market.

According to the AGCM, Apple has imposed stricter privacy rules on third-party developers than those applied to itself, creating unequal conditions.

Developers have had to obtain additional consent for data collection through mandatory requests from Apple, while Apple could use certain data for its own advertising without the same restriction, it added.

The investigation, conducted in coordination with the European Commission, other national competition authorities, and the Italian Data Protection Authority, specifically focused on Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) privacy framework, introduced in 2021.

At the end of the investigation, the AGCM ascertained that the privacy rules imposed by Apple within its iOS mobile operating system had “a restrictive nature” on third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store.

The Antitrust Authority explained in a statement: “Third-party developers are required to obtain specific consent for the collection and linking of data for advertising purposes via a screen imposed by Apple, the so-called ATT prompt, which, however, is not sufficient to meet the requirements of privacy legislation, thus forcing developers to duplicate the request for consent for the same purpose”.

The case is part of a broader European initiative aimed at limiting the control of large technology companies over digital markets. It also comes at a time when the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) is tightening rules on platform gatekeepers, with Apple recently under scrutiny in Europe.

In November, the EU said it was considering whether Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to the same rules as other companies classified as “gatekeeper” services under its Digital Markets Act (DMA), while the tech giant argues that they should be exempt.

The DMA is a regulation aimed at making the digital market fairer and more competitive by imposing rules on large online platforms designated as “gatekeepers”.

The rules aim to prevent companies from abusing their dominant market position, ensuring fair competition, and giving users more control over their digital experiences.

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