Kobo Complains Apple Is Anti-Competitive

Jun 16, 2020

Rakuten Kobo, the e-book and audiobook seller, has filed a complaint with the European Union against Apple, alleging that the 30% fee Apple demands for all transactions made via apps on its platform is anti-competitive.

Kobo, which operates bookstores in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, among several other European nations, claims the fee amounts to what is essentially a defacto price hike on ebooks.

The complaint, which is similar to one made by Spotify last year, comes shortly after the findings of a study by the Analysis Group revealed Apple was responsible for $517 billion in sales through apps on its platform. Of that overall sum, Apple took a 30% fee from $61 billion worth of sales, or $18.3 billion.

X
Stay ahead with
Tip Sheet!
Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more
X
X
Email Address

Password

Log In Forgot Password

Premium online access is only available to PW subscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here.

New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here.

NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PW’s subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PW’s site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com.

To subscribe: click here.