Telegram is the latest company to file a formal antitrust complaint with the EU against Apple's App Store. Spotify and Rakuten, Epic Games, Tinder, and Match Group have previously complained to the EU as well. The reason for complaints was a 30% commission on sales in apps.
In a complaint to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, Telegram messenger representatives said that Apple should "allow users to have the ability to download software outside from the App Store."
In June, after developers’ complaints, the European Commission already launched two antitrust investigations against Apple because of the App Store and Apple Pay's strict policy.
Kay Lee
Yesterday, hearings of four heads of the largest IT companies were held within the antitrust case framework. Speaking before the US Congress, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that App Store validation is reasonable and appropriate.
According to Telegram, Apple does not spend many resources supporting the App Store. The App Store brings the company more than $1 billion a month.
Mr. Durov said: "Every quarter, Apple receives billions of dollars from third-party apps. Meanwhile, the expense of hosting and reviewing these apps is in the tens of millions, not billions of dollars. We know this because we host and review more public content at Telegram than the App Store ever will."
Also, the founder of Telegram believes that Apple and Google are destroying startups around the world. He called on everyone to fight the duopoly.
