Brazil: Announced investigation into Apple for alleged abuse of dominance concerning app store

On 12 January 2023, the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) opened an investigation into Apple for allegedly abusing its dominance in the distribution of apps. The opening of the investigation follows a complaint made by e-commerce provider MercadoLibre. MercadoLibre alleges Apple to have restricted the distribution of apps as well as in-app purchases by requiring app developers to use Apple's payment system and restricting developers from being able to direct users to their websites. CADE now has requested Apple to comment on these allegations until 27 January 2023 and to provide CADE with the necessary documents, as well as information on parallel proceedings in the EU, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Republic of Korea, Japan, India and Indonesia.