EU court upholds Apple’s gatekeeper status under Digital Markets Act

MUMBAI: Apple’s walled garden just found another gate it cannot close. Apple has lost a key legal battle against the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) after the bloc’s second-highest court upheld its designation as a “gatekeeper”, keeping the company subject to sweeping rules designed to open up digital markets.

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, the Luxembourg-based General Court dismissed Apple’s appeal against the European Commission’s decision to classify both the App Store and iOS as gatekeeper services under the DMA, according to a Reuters report.

The ruling means Apple must continue complying with the regulation’s obligations, which require dominant digital platforms to make their ecosystems more interoperable and accessible to competing services and developers.

Apple had argued that the Commission’s decision to treat its App Stores across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch as a single core platform service imposed extensive regulatory obligations on its ecosystem. The company also challenged the classification of iOS as a critical gateway through which businesses reach consumers.

However, the court rejected those arguments, affirming the Commission’s assessment that Apple’s ecosystem falls within the scope of the DMA.

The General Court also ruled that Apple’s separate challenge relating to iMessage could not proceed, declaring the company’s action concerning its messaging platform inadmissible. The decision marks another milestone in Europe’s effort to curb the market power of large technology companies through the Digital Markets Act, which seeks to make digital platforms more open, expand consumer choice and give rival developers fairer access to dominant ecosystems.

For Apple, the ruling reinforces growing regulatory pressure in Europe, where lawmakers have increasingly targeted closed platform models and app marketplace practices. Compliance with the DMA is expected to require continued changes to how the company operates its software ecosystem, distributes apps and supports third-party developers across the region.

The judgment underscores the European Union’s determination to enforce its landmark competition framework, signalling that legal challenges from major technology companies are unlikely to derail the bloc’s broader push for more open digital markets.