Russian federal competition watchdog FAS has imposed a RUB 906.3 million (USD 12.1 million) fine on Apple for violation of the anti-monopoly law. The fine is based on revenues of the company in the country and follows an investigation completed in August 2020.
FAS started investigating after a complaint from the company Kaspersky Laboratory. The watchdog found that Apple abused its dominant position in the mobile apps store market for iOS-powered devices. Apple was accused of favouring its own products in Parental Control applications, making competition difficult for its rivals.
FAS obliged Apple to end the violations and change its policy allowing apps to be refused from the app store without any grounded reasons. Apple was also told to stop preferencing its own Parental Control products and give access to the App Store to other developers without limiting functions of their applications.
Enforcement of the decision however has been suspended because Apple submitted a court appeal. The company also announced that it will appeal the fine.
According to a statement from Apple, 13 applications from Kaspersky Laboratory are currently available for download on App Store, and numerous upgrades of those applications have been available.
Revenues of the Russian branch of Apple totaled RUB 266.31 billion in 2020, up by 40.7 percent year-on-year. The net profit of the subsidiary amounted to RUB 11.4 billion, up by 420 percent.
