After the European Commission forced Apple to open up iOS for third-party app stores in the EU, it seems like other countries are investigating Apple over antitrust and monopolistic practices. Most recently, news broke that Japan is looking to significantly increase fines for big corporations that engage in monopolistic practices.
The current law in Japan suggests a penalty of 6% of sales, but policy makers are looking to increase that to 20%. A subsequent future failure to comply with the law will result in a fine of 30% of sales.
Japan signaled a coming change back in December 2023 and even warned Apple that it has bigger plans to revise its regulations against anti-competitive practices. Japan’s main issue is with Apple’s App Store.
Just like in the EU, Japan will likely force Apple to open up its platform for third-party app stores and alternative payment systems because as of now, all subscriptions and paid apps require payment via Apple’s own payment system, which involves a processing fee of up to 30%.
If other countries around the globe follow suit, Apple might be forced to open up its walled garden a bit as it will be too hard to maintain different versions for each market.
