Finance Associated Press, December 27 (edited by Liu Rui).In recent years, Apple and Google have faced increasing antitrust noises. In Europe and the United States, the monopoly issue of Apple and Google has been brought to court several times. Now, the antitrust wave has spread to Japan.
Japan will introduce antitrust regulations against Apple and Google
Japan is also preparing to introduce regulations requiring tech giants such as Apple and Google to allow external app stores to make payments on their mobile operating systems in a bid to curb the abuse of their dominance in the Japanese market, Nikkei reported.
According to reports, the regulation, which restricts the monopolistic behavior of Apple and Google, is expected to be submitted to the Japanese parliament in 2024.
The regulation, which will limit platform operators' ability to keep users in their ecosystems and keep competitors out, addresses four main areas:App stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems
Under the regulation, the Japan Fair Trade Commission will be able to impose fines on Apple and Google for violations. If the current anti-monopoly law is used as a template, the amount of the fine will generally reach about 6% of the revenue of the business in question. However, the specifics of the regulation have yet to be finalized next spring.
According to Japanese media, Japan** will decide which companies the regulation applies to based on criteria such as sales and the number of users. For now, it is unlikely that the main multinational giants such as Apple and Google will be affected will affect Japanese companies.
Third-party app stores and payment systems are allowed
Currently, Apple does not allow apps** to be shipped to the iPhone through channels other than its own App Store. In-app payments also go through Apple's system and can take up to 30%. At the same time, although Google allows third-party app distribution platforms, it still generally requires apps to use its billing system.
This effective monopoly on in-app payments can result in users paying more on mobile devices than on PCs when paying for the same content or services.
Japan** believes that this model can consolidate the dominance of both companies in the mobile phone market. The regulation is designed to force them to allow third-party app stores and payment systems.
Under the regulation, Japanese companies will be able to operate specialized game stores on iOS devices and use payment systems with lower fees offered by Japanese fintech companies.
According to Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan's mobile app market is expected to expand to $29.2 billion by 2023, about half of what it was in 2018.
Search systems are prohibited from favoring their own products
Japan's proposed regulations also contain search-related provisions, such as prohibiting search engine operators from giving preferential treatment to their services.
For example, this could prohibit Google from always putting its own flight booking or restaurant booking tool at the top of its search results.
Japan's provision is clearly a reference to the European Union's Digital Markets Act.
The EU's Digital Markets Act, which will be fully implemented in 2024, prohibits "gatekeepers" from favoring their own tools in search results, and violators face fines of up to 10% of global turnover in the previous fiscal year.
The "gatekeeper" enterprises referred to by the EU refer to alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, which were identified as "gatekeeper" companies by the European Commission under the Digital Markets Act on September 6, local time.