The European Union (EU) has dropped two antitrust investigations into Apple after the company relaxed restrictions on third-party developer tools and stopped enforcing its “country of purchase” rule within the EU and some other European countries.
The European Commission opened the investigations last spring over the terms of Apple’s license agreement with application developers and a rule that restricted repairs service to the country where the iPhone was bought.
The commission argued that Apple’s “country of purchase” rule made it difficult for customers to use their warranty if they purchased an iPhone outside of their home country.
The company now allows independent authorized service providers to offer cross-border iPhone warranty services in EU countries where Apple does not directly take charge of repairs.
“Apple’s response to our preliminary investigations shows that the Commission can use the competition rules to achieve swift results on the market with clear benefits for consumers, without the need to open formal proceedings,” said Joaquin Almunia, the vice president in charge of competition policy at the European Commission, in a statement.
