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Apple dropped Epic Games after a dispute in which the 'Fortnite'
creator alleged that the iPhone maker's in-app payment terms
constitute a monopoly.
"This has most certainly attracted our interest," said Andreas
Mundt, head of the Federal Cartel Office. "We are at the
beginning, but we are looking at this very closely."
Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for
comment, ditched Epic after it implemented a feature to let
iPhone users make in-app purchases directly, rather than with
Apple's system, which charges a 30% fee.
Mundt told an online briefing that Apple's App Store and the
Play Store that serves smartphones running on Google's Android
operating system represented an "interesting habitat because
they are the only two worldwide".
Although the Bonn-based authority does have the power to impose
fines, it typically undertakes administrative probes into big
technology firms to establish whether they are abusing their
market dominance and then seeks a change in the way they work.
It reached an agreement last year with Amazon after
investigating terms for merchants using the e-commerce platform.
Facebook is appealing an order to curb its collection of user
data.
Competition regulation in the European Union is handled both by
its Brussels-based Commission, which is examining a complaint
brought by streaming service Spotify against Apple, and in
parallel at national level.
A new investigation, sparked by complaints that Amazon had
prioritised some shipments early in the coronavirus pandemic,
should be completed "quite quickly", Mundt said.
The main focus was now on whether Amazon is operating a system
of price control and rates merchants based on pricing, he said.
Amazon says merchants set their own prices and its systems are
designed to act against price gouging.
(The story corrects Facebook context in 7th paragraph)
(Editing by Alexander Smith)
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