Russian FAS Finds Apple Guilty of Abusing Dominant Position in App Distribution Market

The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has determined that Apple abused its dominant position in the distribution of iOS apps.

The FAS released a press release today announcing the results of its investigation into Apple's App Store practices:

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On August 10, 2020, the antitrust case brought against Apple Inc. (Apple's parent company, USA) was completed, according to Kaspersky Lab.


The investigation found that Apple dominates with a 100% share of the mobile app distribution market on the iOS operating system, as it is only legally possible to install such an app from the App Store.

The offence was Apple's policy of limiting the tools and capabilities of parental control applications, which resulted in the loss of much of the functionality of third-party applications, starting in October 2018.

This policy coincided with the release of the company's own pre-installed Screen Time app, which has functionality similar to that of parental control applications.

The RUSSIAN FAS Commission found that Apple had abused its dominant position in relation to the developers of mobile parental control applications and limited competition in the market for the distribution of applications for mobile devices operating the iOS operating system.


The breach also included Apple's right to reject, prevent any third-party app from entering the App Store, even if it complies with all Apple requirements.

Apple will be issued with an injunction to correct the breach.
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As expected, Apple plans to appeal the ruling.

This is just one of many investigations the company is now facing over its App Store. Both Microsoft and Facebook recently spoke out against Apple's ban on cloud gaming services which could lead to further investigations into the company's policies.

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