Commenting on the EU’s anti-trust ruling against Apple, Deezer CEO, Jeronimo Folgueira said:
“It’s very positive to see that the EU is taking action against Apple and is showing readiness to firmly sanction anti-competitive practices.
We hope and expect that the EU commission will assess the recently proposed update to Apple’s terms for the appstore in light of this fine, and make it clear without a doubt that what has been proposed is not enough to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
We want to reiterate that Apple’s response to the DMA is an attempt to circumvent the new regulations with an alternative to the current business terms in the app store.Apple claims that its new terms include a “reduced commission”, they also include additional “Core Technology Fees” which are not designed for companies with high install volumes. Charging a yearly 50 cent fee per app download or update is excessive, it prevents natural growth and makes it prohibitively expensive to scale any app business profitably.
As it stands, for an established app company like Deezer, there’s no foreseeable benefit in switching to Apple’s alternative business terms. In Deezer’s view, Apple’s response to the DMA is fundamentally deceptive, and an attempt to bypass European regulations. This is what Deezer expressed in the letter sent last Friday to the EU Commissioners which has been signed alongside with 33 other app developers.”