Apple deserves a fine from the EU, as well

If Google is at fault for its monopoly in Android stores, Apple should be held to account for a similar violation

system updates. That makes Apple a monopoly in the truest sense of the word, and the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a suit challenging this super-dominant position on behalf of consumers who have no choice but to pay Apple’s 30% commission for developers as part of every app’s price.

Like Google, Apple makes its preinstalled browser impossible to delete from a phone. Google, however, allows users to choose their own default applications, including the browser and maps. Apple doesn’t do that; you can, for example, install Google’s Chrome browser and Google Maps on an iphone, but they won’t launch by default when you click on a link in an email or another app. That’s even more anticompetitive than simply preinstalling one’s own software and hoping users will keep it because it’s good enough.

As a consumer, I’d like all phone makers, whether their gadgets run Android, the IOS, Samsung’s Tizen, Linux or something even more exotic, to offer me a choice of apps. When setting up a new phone, users should see a list of browser apps, with ratings from users and independent reviewers, along with a list of email applications and mapping and navigation apps. The lazier users could just hit a button for installing all the apps recommended by the operating-system producer. The experience of Microsoft, which was forced by the EU to give users a choice of browsers on Windows computers (it was fined twice for not doing so) shows that letting people decide for themselves creates a level playing field for competition. Chrome, and not a Microsoft-developed programme, is now the most popular browser on Windows.

Independent developers are capable of producing better apps than those created by the big platform companies. They deserve a boost from a universal preinstallation ban. And the platform companies, too, can only benefit from more competition: It’ll keep them in shape as app developers.

And yet there is a case to be made for regulatory interference in app preinstallation practices. European companies are unlikely to become operating system leaders in the foreseeable future. But Europe does have a sizable app economy: In 2017, it employed 1.89 million people, compared with 1.73 million in the US. Giving this industry easier access to consumers should be a goal for European policy makers and regulators. The European Union’s latest Google ruling should be just a first step, not an isolated attack on one US company for something others do, too.