Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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German judges may back antitrust measures against Apple, citing its market significance. A ruling is delayed as Apple seeks EU court consultation.
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - German federal judges indicated on Tuesday that they could back the country's antitrust regulator in a legal battle with Apple, following over three hours of deliberations over whether the U.S. tech giant should be subject to additional controls.
The German cartel office said in April 2023 it considered Apple a "company of paramount cross-market significance for competition", opening the door to possible measures curbing its dominance.
Wolfgang Kirchhoff, presiding judge on the panel assessing Apple's appeal against the designation, said an overall assessment had shown it could be true that Apple has such significance across markets.
However, the Federal Court of Justice held off on handing down a ruling on Tuesday, calling for more time to deliberate.
The legal team representing Apple urgently called on the court to consult with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg before taking a decision, arguing that German law may not be in line with EU law on the issue.
Kirchhoff had said in his opening comments that the judges saw no grounds for a referral to the EU court.
If confirmed, Apple would join Google parent Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta as companies subject to extra controls in Germany over their "paramount cross-market significance".
(Reporting by Ursula Knapp, writing by Rachel More, editing by Thomas Seythal)
In April 2023, the German cartel office considered Apple a 'company of paramount cross-market significance for competition', which could lead to measures to curb its dominance.
Wolfgang Kirchhoff, the presiding judge, indicated that an overall assessment suggested it could be true that Apple has significant importance across various markets.
The Federal Court of Justice refrained from making a ruling on Tuesday and stated that they saw no grounds for a referral to the EU court.
If confirmed, Apple would join Google parent Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta as companies subject to additional controls in Germany due to their 'paramount cross-market significance'.
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