Apple discloses India sales in antitrust case Apfelpatient

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Apple long refused to disclose its financial data in India – now the company is relenting. This disclosure allows the Indian competition authority to calculate a specific fine for the first time. The sum under discussion had recently been set to become the highest antitrust fine in the world.

Apple has agreed to disclose its revenue in India so the government can assess a potential antitrust fine. This comes after a 2024 conviction that the company abused its dominant market position in iPhone apps. Initially, Apple refused to release the financial data, risking a potential fine of up to $38 billion. The conflict escalated significantly in recent weeks when Apple allowed the dispute with India's antitrust authorities to escalate instead of providing the requested figures.

The App Store at the heart of the dispute

Apple faces antitrust laws, investigations by competition authorities, and lawsuits worldwide. At the heart of these issues is almost always the same: In most countries, iPhone apps—with a few exceptions—can only be obtained through the official App Store. This allows Apple to set its own commission rates, which developers must accept if they want to offer their apps on the iPhone. Numerous countries consider this an abuse of its dominant market position.

This very mechanism is also under scrutiny elsewhere, for example in the US, where Apple and Epic have agreed on a timetable for new commission negotiations. Apple itself counters that it is not dominant in the overall smartphone app market, since Android represents a larger segment than iOS. However, regulators usually conclude that the iPhone alone constitutes a sufficiently large market to establish a dominant position.

India's peculiarity: a low market share

However, there is a peculiarity in India that sets the case apart from the usual pattern: Apple's market share in the country remains comparatively small. At the time of the conviction, it was only 4 percent; it has since risen to 9 percent.

This means the question of market dominance is different here than in markets where the iPhone accounts for a large portion of the user base. The fact that the authority nevertheless assumed a dominant position in the app business demonstrates how narrowly the definition of market power is interpreted in this specific segment.

How a dispute turned into a 38 billion euro threat

As in many countries, the maximum antitrust fine in India is calculated as a percentage of revenue. It was precisely for this purpose that the government requested the financial data – and Apple refused to release it.

In April, the authorities responded with a clear warning: Should Apple continue to refuse to cooperate, they would resort to their own estimates, and the fine could then reach up to $38 billion. That would have been the largest antitrust fine worldwide. According to a Reuters report, the company has now agreed to provide the requested information after a judge ordered its cooperation last month. This brings the long-delayed proceedings a step closer to a potential sentencing decision.

Why Apple specifically wanted to protect domestic figures

At first glance, the dispute seemed unusual. The Indian government initially demanded Apple's global revenue – a figure that is already publicly available. Why the authorities requested this data in the first place, and why Apple refused to provide it, remained difficult to understand at first.

The latest report provides the answer: During the proceedings, the government inquired at a certain point about domestic sales – specifically, the revenue generated in India. It was most likely this information that Apple was trying to protect. Unlike global financial statements, the figures for a single market are a sensitive data point that gives competitors and regulators detailed insights into the local business situation. By compromising, Apple is now releasing precisely this information. (Image: Shutterstock / StockImageFactory.com)