Apple Replies to EU Antitrust Commission and Points Out Spotify's Misleading Numbers
At the top of the month Patently Apple posted a report titled 'While the EU Commission Pretends to be waiting for Apple's Response to rule on Spotify's Complaint, their mind is already Set." Today we're learning that Apple has reportedly responded to the EU's Antitrust Commission in writing regarding Spotify's formal complaint against them. While we don't have a formal document to provide you with to confirm Apple's formal response, the German publication Spiegel Online has reportedly seen the document.
In a report posted today by Spiegel Online titled "Apple resists Spotify allegations," the publication states that "Apple is now resisting these allegations - accusing Spotify of knowingly operating on misleading numbers. Thus, Spotify gave the impression that the 30-percent tax will be due for all users of Apple devices. It concerns only 680,000 users, as it says after SPIEGEL information in Apple's opinion to the European Commission, which arrived in Brussels at the end of May.
The commission of 30 percent was raised only for those Spotify customers who would have converted their subscription via Apple's in-app purchase function from free to premium. However, this feature was only active from 2014 to 2016 in the Spotify app - and in this time only 680,000 customers had made use of it. For all other subscription upgrades before and after Apple claims to have cashed a penny."
Spiegel added that "Also for the affected 680,000 Spotify subscriptions Apple apparently requires - unlike Ek writes in his blog - not 30 percent, but only half. Some time ago, the company lowered the commission for subscription customers: After one year of membership, it drops from 30 to 15 percent. Since the 680,000 Spotify users have completed their subscriptions three to five years ago, Spotify has to pay for them according to Apple data only 15 percent."
Source: Spiegel Online (original German); English (Google Translated)
Hopefully at some time in the future we'll be able to post Apple's full response to the EU Commission regarding the Spotify complaint, as Apple's full response likely covers much more ground and in greater detail.
Though as we noted at the top of this report, the EU Commissioner's commentary on this issue all but assures that they'll move against Apple.
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