In the past few years, Apple has been facing the wrath of antitrust agencies. Now EU antitrust investigators are going to reveal the findings of their investigations into Apple in upcoming weeks. Trouble seems to be mounting for the Cupertino company as the UK said it would launch an investigation into the App Store.

The story so far

Two years ago, Spotify filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission. The company alleged Apple gives itself an “unfair advantage.” Apple blamed for falsifying claims about App Store fees. Finally, in 2020, the EU opened an antitrust investigation into App Store fees. Apple charges 30% fees for third-party apps on the App Store and mandates an in-app purchase system.

Apple once again expressed displeasure and said the EU commission is looking into complaints from few companies that “want a free ride” and special rules.

Reuters latest report says that regulators are on the verge of finalizing “a charge sheet against Apple.” It also adds that EU antitrust could send the charge to Apple before this summer. At this point, the contents of the chargesheet are not known. However, the chargesheet could most likely highlight suspected violations and solutions for resolving the issues.

The EU competition enforcer usually sets out what it considers suspected violations of the bloc’s antitrust rules in its statement of objections, whether a fine is merited and what companies have to do to stop anti-competitive practices.

In other words, EU regulators seem to have unearthed sufficient evidence to press charges against Apple. The chargesheet will be available in the public domain in the next few months. We wonder how the verdict will affect the Apple Vs. Epic battle.