This might be what’s called a tech bandwagon. Within two days of news that the European Commission is investigating Apple over its App Store rules, a flood of companies’ complaints about the issue have appeared. It all culminated in a Bloomberg report on Thursday quoting Microsoft president Brad Smith calling for antitrust regulators to review rules of various app stores.
You know you’ve got an antitrust fight on your hands when even Microsoft is calling you out on the matter. Smith, notably, is on the board of Netflix, which likely has informed his views on the subject. Netflix stopped paying the 30% commission charged by Apple 18 months ago, so people can’t sign up for the streaming service through the App Store. Netflix is also in the class of companies, like Spotify, that competes with an Apple service—in Netflix’s case, Apple TV Plus.