Apple Halts Indian Antitrust Probe With Confidentiality Complaint

[MacRumors]

India's Competition Commission has recalled two investigative reports accusing Apple of antitrust violations after the company raised concerns about the disclosure of confidential commercial information (via Reuters).

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has withdrawn two key reports that alleged Apple breached local competition laws. The recall, which is highly unusual, comes after the company filed a complaint claiming that the reports contained sensitive commercial data that was improperly disclosed to its competitors, including Tinder-owner Match Group. The commission has not publicly detailed the exact nature of the confidential information in question, but it is believed to primarily concern financial data related to Apple's operations in India.

The reports were part of a prolonged investigation into Apple's practices in the Indian market, focusing on allegations that the company abused its dominant position in the app store market to force developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. The system, which charges commissions of up to 30%, has been a subject of scrutiny around the world, with regulators in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the United States raising similar concerns about its impact on competition and market fairness.

Apple's defense in the case centers on its argument that it is a minor presence in India, where only 3.5% of the country's 690 million smartphones are iPhones, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Despite this relatively small market share, the CCI's initial findings suggested that Apple had exploited its position to the detriment of app developers, users, and other payment processors.

The recall is expected to delay the investigation by several months as the CCI undertakes the process of redacting the sensitive information and potentially reissuing revised reports.

Article Link: Apple Halts Indian Antitrust Probe With Confidentiality Complaint

 

[Valen1]

Few countries are as corrupt and morally bankrupt as India. I managed a staff of 4,000 Indians on & off-shore for eleven years.

 

[Plutonius]

Apple definitely gets its money worth from its team of lawyers.

 

[aidler]

Apple can't stop these investigations and proceedings forever. Things like this only make regulators angrier and more determined.

 

[senttoschool]

Antitrust - lol. Apple is 5% of the phone market in India.

 

[Newgoblin49]

Fellow indian here , can you explain the morally bankrupt part ?

Few countries are as corrupt and morally bankrupt as India. I managed a staff of 4,000 Indians on & off-shore for eleven years.

 

[FCX]

Antitrust - lol. Apple is 5% of the phone market in India.

Ha. Apple wishes they had such a dominant position! They can't even manage 4%!

 

[GMShadow]

Apple can't stop these investigations and proceedings forever. Things like this only make regulators angrier and more determined.

Are they angry because they're incompetent?

 

[Valen1]

Fellow indian here , can you explain the morally bankrupt part ?

Constant lies with no remorse when confronted with the truth.

 

[Realityck]

Apple's defense in the case centers on its argument that it is a minor presence in India, where only 3.5% of the country's 690 million smartphones are iPhones, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Despite this relatively small market share, the CCI's initial findings suggested that Apple had exploited its position to the detriment of app developers, users, and other payment processors.

Seriously low bar to conduct an investigation at 3.5% market presence.

 

[H2SO4]

Fellow indian here , can you explain the morally bankrupt part ?

Don't bite.
There are PLENTY of similar example from countries all over the world. 'Westerners', (think politicians at the very least) have done just as much probably for just as long.

 

[Valen1]

Seriously low bar to conduct an investigation at 3.5% market presence.

Not when the government is looking for financial concessions and/or bribes. Bribes are very common which makes it difficult for American companies to do business given are Foreign Corrupt Practices laws.

 

[Newgoblin49]

Don't bite.
There are PLENTY of similar example from countries all over the world. 'Westerners', (think politicians at the very least) have done just as much probably for just as long.

Yeah I feel you. Although I agree with the whole morally bankrupt part with what the other poster said . I feel the angle he’s coming from is spite

 

[H2SO4]

Yeah I feel you. Although I agree with the whole morally bankrupt part with what the other poster said . I feel the angle he’s coming from is spite

Possibly but he has a point it jus that his/her point cannot be made in isolation because all nations are very guilty of this. It certainly seems one sided.

 

[Valen1]

Possibly but he has a point it jus that his/her point cannot be made in isolation because all nations are very guilty of this. It certainly seems one sided.

The worse company and employees of that company I had to deal with was TCS (Tata). Every week there was something, i.e., lying on timesheets, lying on work that wasn't completed, etc. Some of it was "how stupid do you think we are" types of things that was obviously false.

 

[Newgoblin49]

The worse company and employees of that company I had to deal with was TCS (Tata). Every week there was something, i.e., lying on timesheets, lying on work that wasn't completed, etc. Some of it was "how stupid do you think we are" types of things that was obviously false.

I work in consulting too , I work for an American company which is the second largest software company in the world . Our offices do the same with time sheets , across countries Even in the US. It’s a common thing in consulting , not just in India

 

[TechnoMonk]

Constant lies with no remorse when confronted with the truth.

Most of the corporate US. And the lies when the corporates lay off people with no remorse.

 

[TechnoMonk]

The worse company and employees of that company I had to deal with was TCS (Tata). Every week there was something, i.e., lying on timesheets, lying on work that wasn't completed, etc. Some of it was "how stupid do you think we are" types of things that was obviously false.

So did Anderson consulting(Accenture) with Enron, price waters coopers, cap Gemini, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs. I can go on and on.

 

[VulchR]

Few countries are as corrupt and morally bankrupt as India. I managed a staff of 4,000 Indians on & off-shore for eleven years.

4000 from a nation of 1.5 billion. Perhaps your sample is not representative. Besides, the Indian authorities have removed the offending publications and are in the process of redacting them. That doesn't sound corrupt to me. Incompetent, perhaps, in making the error in the first place.

 

[Valen1]

I work in consulting too , I work for an American company which is the second largest software company in the world . Our offices do the same with time sheets , across countries Even in the US. It’s a common thing in consulting , not just in India

And did one of their employees setup training on how to be hired by your company using fraudulent resumes? Or commit fraud during an exam and then the executive for the Indian company saying, "Do we have to include that in the report?"

 

[Valen1]

So did Anderson consulting(Accenture) with Enron, price waters coopers, cap Gemini, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs. I can go on and on.

OF that group, I've only had experience with Accenture and PWC. I wouldn't trust PWC to balance a checkbook. Accenture on the other hand was very good to work with once we had the right American executive in place.

 

[Valen1]

4000 from a nation of 1.5 billion. Perhaps your sample is not representative. Besides, the Indian authorities have removed the offending publications and are in the process of redacting them. That doesn't sound corrupt to me. Incompetent, perhaps, in making the error in the first place.

That's the population I have and those are the facts from that relationship. Lying and incompetence was the norm.

 

[TorontoSS]

And did one of their employees setup training on how to be hired by your company using fraudulent resumes? Or commit fraud during an exam and then the executive for the Indian company saying, "Do we have to include that in the report?"

As terrible as it may sound, I think what you're saying is really true. The government clearly is just helping a few players and going after foreign companies, partly because they think it's politically good to do so, and partly because the people around are very very corrupt. Foreign firms which invest end up getting bitten quite a bit (amazon, vodafone, apple for example. Amazon invested only to be told later they can't really sell on their websites, Vodafone gets a retrospective tax bill for who knows what reason).

The government also never wants to be told this and if you point it out, you're the one in trouble. Many of the firms operate in the same way to be very frank. the whole "do you have to include that" must be such a common occurrence, along with so many other issues like not paying for services, simply because why not make someone wait longer or why pay, and that's before you start on any social issues plaguing firms (e.g. senior/exec views of female employees).

 

[Newgoblin49]

And did one of their employees setup training on how to be hired by your company using fraudulent resumes? Or commit fraud during an exam and then the executive for the Indian company saying, "Do we have to include that in the report?"

The US side of my company had over-billed the FBI at one point and got caught and was heavily fined for it so….

As an indian I do agree with the morally bankrupt part but the angle you’re coming from is a clear bias and it’s marred with generalisations

 

[aidler]

Are they angry because they're incompetent?

Doesn’t matter.