Meta Unlikely to Launch App Store for iPhone Users in Europe
Apple has made it difficult for other competing app stores to build in the European Union (EU), Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said.
Apple claims that sideloading is a security threat. However, the upcoming EU Digital Market Act (DMA) has forced the tech giant to make changes to the App Store in the region, including new fees.
“I don’t think the Apple thing makes any difference to us. Because I think the way they’ve implemented it, I’d be very surprised if any developer decided to go to the alternative app stores that they have,” Zuckerberg told analysts on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call late on Thursday.
“They’ve made it so burdensome and I think so contrary to the intent of the EU regulation that I think it’s just very difficult for anyone, including us, to really seriously entertain what they’re doing there,” he added.
Following Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Microsoft has also criticized the Apple App Store changes in the EU, calling them “a step in the wrong direction.”
The new App Store changes, announced ahead of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) in March, require developers using third-party app stores to pay €0.50 for each annual app install after one million downloads.
Apple still collects a 17 percent fee from developers who choose to use a third-party payment system.
