Stefan Mileschin

At least in India

Fruity cargo cult Apple has asked India's antitrust watchdog to throw out a case alleging abuse of market power in the apps market, saying it is too small to be an evil monopolist.

The filing was made after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) started reviewing allegations that Apple hurts competition by forcing app developers to use its proprietary system which can charge commissions of up to 30 per cent on in-app purchases.

Apple denied the allegations in its filing to the CCI and stressed that its market share in India is an "insignificant" 0-5%, while Google commands 90-100% as its Android operating system powers most other smartphones.

Chief Compliance Officer, Kyle Andeer said Apple is not dominant in the Indian market ... Without dominance, there can be no abuse.

The complainant in the case, a little-known non-profit group called "Together We Fight Society", said that Apple with iOS dominates the market for non-licensable mobile operating systems.

Apple countered that in its filing, saying the entire smartphone market - which includes licensable systems like Android - is the market that should be taken into consideration.

Apple described the Indian complaint as a "proxy filing" in its CCI submission, saying that the complainant was "likely acting in concert with parties with whom Apple has ongoing commercial and contractual disputes globally and/or that have complained to other regulators."

Apple has not given any evidence in its submission to support its claim. The non-profit said Apple's remark was "made to prejudice the mind" of the CCI "without any iota of proof."

The CCI is separately investigating Google's in-app payment system as part of a broader probe into the company after Indian startups last year voiced concern.

https://fudzilla.com/news/54074-appl...-be-a-monopoly