The European Court on Wednesday dismissed Apple's appeal against the designation of its App Store and iOS as "gatekeepers" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to Reuters.
Court upholds designation
"The Tribunal dismisses Apple's lawsuits concerning its designation as a gatekeeper in relation to the App Store and iOS," said the Luxembourg-based court. Apple had been fighting the decision since 2024, when the European Commission designated its five App Stores (for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch) as a single core platform service.
What gatekeeper designation means
The gatekeeper designation brings strict obligations: companies must not favor their own services over competitors, must not combine personal data from different services, and must allow users to use alternative app stores. Apple also challenged the inclusion of iOS as a gatekeeper platform, which requires interoperability with competing services.
iMessage not part of the dispute
The court also declared inadmissible Apple's lawsuit regarding the classification of iMessage as a number-independent interpersonal communications service (NIICS), which would have been subject to EU telecom rules. To be designated a gatekeeper, a company must meet criteria such as EU revenues of at least €7.5 billion or a market capitalization over €75 billion, and have more than 45 million monthly active users and 10,000 yearly active business users in the EU.