BEIJING (Reuters) -A group of 55 Chinese iPhone and iPad users filed a complaint with China’s market regulator on Monday, a lawyer representing the group said, alleging that Apple abuses its market dominance by restricting app distribution and payments to its own platforms while charging high commissions.
The complaint to China’s State Administration for Market Regulation scrutinises Apple at a time when trade tensions between Beijing and Washington have been intensifying, with both governments deploying tariffs and technology restrictions as policy tools.
The complainants, led by lawyer Wang Qiongfei, argue that Apple maintains a monopoly over iOS app distribution in China while permitting alternative payment methods and app stores in other markets following regulatory pressure from the European Union and United States.
The filing accuses Apple of three main violations of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law: forcing consumers to purchase digital goods exclusively through Apple’s In-App Purchase system, restricting iOS app downloads to the App Store, and charging commissions of up to 30% on in-app purchases.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This marks the second complaint against Apple led by Wang. A similar case filed in 2021 was dismissed by a Shanghai court last year.
Wang told Reuters that he expected this administrative complaint to move faster through regulators than the previous civil lawsuit, whose verdict he is appealing to China’s Supreme People’s Court.
That court heard arguments on the appeal in December and a ruling is still pending, according to Wang.
Amid tensions with Washington, China has recently launched a series of antitrust investigations targeting U.S. tech firms, including chipmaker Qualcomm, which faces a probe over its acquisition of Israeli company Autotalks.
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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