Image: © mehaniq41/Stock.adobe.com
Apple told news outlets that it intends to appeal the decision.
A Brazilian federal court has reinstated an overturned injunction, giving Apple 90 days to allow third-party app stores on iOS in the country, as first reported by Valor International.
In November last year, the country’s antitrust regulator, the Council for Economic Defense (Cade), ruled that Apple must lift its restrictions and allow app developers to market third-party apps and allow the use of other in-app purchasing systems.
The action came as a result of a 2022 complaint by Latin America’s most popular e-commerce site MercadoLibre, which accused the company of abusing its monopoly in the distribution of apps for its devices.
However, in December 2024, the order was overturned by a federal court.
The order has now been reinstated by a federal judge in Brazil, and Apple has 90 days to comply with Cade’s mandate, as opposed to the 20 days prescribed in the watchdog’s previously overturned order.
According to Valor, judge Pablo Zuniga ruled that Apple’s argument that there is no urgency in implementing the changes is “unfounded”.
“The closed structure of iOS and the restrictions imposed on third-party app sales are precisely the factors that justify the preventive action of the antitrust authority, as maintaining them without any intervention may hinder the entry of new competitors and impede the restoration of competition in the sector,” the judge noted.
Moreover, Apple has already complied with similar obligations in other countries without significant harm to its economic model, judge Zuniga added. Last year, Apple agreed to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act to allow EU users to download apps from competing app stores on iOS. At the time, the company insisted that it had no plans to expand the imposed changes into other markets.
Later in 2024, the company was forced to make further changes to how it operates its App Store in the EU by removing restrictions imposed on app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels such as an alternative app marketplace, another app or a website.
In a statement to news outlets yesterday (6 March), an Apple spokesperson said that the measures imposed by Cade would “undermine the privacy and security” of iOS users and that the company intends to appeal the decision.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
