Apple agrees to submit India financials in long-pending antitrust case

Apple has agreed to provide the financial details of its India business to the country’s antitrust regulator as part of an ongoing investigation that determined the U.S. company abused its market dominance. The move, detailed in an agency order, advances the long-delayed case toward a potential penalty decision.

The matter represents Apple’s most prominent regulatory challenge in India, a critical growth market where the company has aggressively expanded iPhone production as it diversifies away from China. iPhones now account for 9% of India’s smartphone market, up from about 2% five years ago, according to Counterpoint Research.

Aditya Kalra for Reuters:
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A confidential ⁠Competition Commission of India (CCI) order, reviewed by Reuters, showed Apple last month agreed to supply its India financials – typically needed by ​the watchdog for penalty calculations.

Apple’s lawyer asked the CCI at a May 21 hearing for a “final extension” until June 25 to ​file its “India-specific financial information”, and “the commission considered the request and granted” it, the order noted.

A CCI investigation found in 2024 that Apple had exploited its dominant position in the iPhone apps market.

Apple denied wrongdoing and said it would contest the findings. It also refused to supply details of its finances.

Apple has ​long argued the case should be paused because it it is separately seeking to quash India’s new antitrust penalty law ​that empowers the CCI to penalise companies on the basis of their global, not just Indian, turnover. Apple says the CCI had asked ‌for global ⁠financial details, which could lead to a fine of up to $38 billion.

Apple has also been asked to submit its objections, if any, to the investigation findings, which say Apple’s App Store is “an unavoidable trading partner” for app makers, who were not ⁠permitted to ​use any third-party payment service for in-app purchases.

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MacDailyNews Take: iPhone accounts for 9% of India’s smartphone market. Not a monopoly. Not even close.

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