Following the approval of Digital Markets Act in the countries of the European Union, Apple will have to comply with the legislation by March 2024 and – consequently – allow the installation of applications on iPhone and iPad from sources other than the “usual” App Store.
While it is not yet clear how Apple intends to proceed, other countries appear to be on the verge of making the same request to the Cupertino giant. At the top of the list would be the Japanaccording to a recent report published by Nikkei Asia.
Sidealoding on iPhone and iPad also in Japan: the indiscretion
The Japanese regulatory authority, we read, is preparing antitrust legislation that will require the big tech companies, including Apple and Google, to allow not only the use of third-party “digital stores”, therefore different from the App Store and Play Store, but also of alternative payment methods.
For obvious reasons, the legislation will be discussed in a more accurate and detailed way during 2024, but the areas of interest would already be known today: app stores and payments, search, browsers and operating systems. In case of failure to adapt by the companies involved, the Japan Fair Trade Commission will be able to impose very high sanctions.
The relationship between the Japanese government and some technology giants it has been quite tense for a few years now. In 2020, Japanese authorities launched an investigation into Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook for anti-competitive practices, and in the same year, many Japanese developers expressed dissatisfaction with the App Store’s business model. Then, in 2023, the regulatory authority officially established that that of Apple and Google – with their respective stores – is a real duopoly.
According to recent rumors, Apple – despite being openly against what has been established, for a security issue (but also for economic reasons, obviously) – is already working to enable sideloading only and exclusively in European Union countries, where the DMA was approved. In the event that similar legislation were to make its way to Japan, the Cupertino company would already know how to proceed.