Germany Launches Antitrust Investigation Into Apple

This comes as yet another in a series of investigations that Germany and other European countries have launched against tech giants in recent years.

The Federal Cartel Office, Germany's antitrust regulator, announced on Monday that it had launched a probe into Apple, investigating whether the tech giant is exploiting its market position amid complaints over tracking restriction in its iOS 14.5 operating system.

"A key focus of the investigation will be the operation of the App Store because in many cases, it empowers Apple to have an influence on the business activities of third parties", Andreas Mundt, president of the FCO, said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif.

© AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez

The antitrust body also vowed to investigate the exclusive pre-installation of Apple's own applications on its devices.

"We look forward to discussing our approach with the FCO and having an open dialogue about any of their concerns", a spokesperson for the Bonn-based regulator noted.

Apple has become the latest company to come under scrutiny by the German authorities among big tech corporations, as the country has previously launched investigations into Facebook, Amazon, and Google over their operations in Europe.