iMessage and Bing Users in Europe Score a Major Victory for Apple and Microsoft
BRUSSELS: Apple has won an exemption for iMessage and its Microsoft Bing search engine from new EU tech rules after the companies convinced antitrust authorities that their services are not gateways for businesses to reach end users.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into effect in three weeks, requires Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon, Meta Platforms and ByteDance to allow third-party apps or app stores on their platforms and make it easier for people to switch competitors.
Companies are also prohibited from favoring their services over their competitors.
After a five-month investigation, the European Commission found that iMessage, Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising “were not gatekeeper services,” the EU leader said in a statement.
The commission said Apple’s App Store, iOS operating system and Safari browser are still classified as gatekeepers, as are Microsoft’s Linkedin social network and Windows operating system.
It “thoroughly assessed all claims and took into account the input of relevant stakeholders,” the commission said, without giving details of the companies’ claims.
Apple had said that the use of iMessage is low even on its devices compared to competing messaging services in the EU and that iMessage is not an important channel for companies to reach users in the block.
“Consumers today have access to a wide variety of messaging apps and often use several at once, reflecting how easy it is to switch between them,” an Apple spokesperson said.
Microsoft said that Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising are challengers in the market and are relatively small, so they are not important gateways for business users.
“We will continue to work with the Commission and the industry generally to ensure that Microsoft’s other designated platforms are fully compliant with the DMA,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
Lazar Radic, an antitrust expert at the Center for International Law and Economics, said: “It’s a good sign that the Commission has taken market realities into account, rather than just slapping a ‘gatekeeper’ label on iMessage because it meets certain quantitative thresholds.
“This suggests that the Commission is able to avoid the temptation to over-regulate.”
However, the Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), whose members include Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm, did not accept the Commission’s decision to free up services like iMessage.
“Today’s surprising decision undermines the objectives of the DMA and its potential to improve choice and competitiveness for all Europeans,” it said in a statement.
