Apple was exempted from the EU's Corning deal to end exclusivity terms with OEMs, after finding products designed exclusively for Apple fall outside the market
Marcus Mendes / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
The decision adds another example of Apple receiving a tailored EU carveout: its earlier core technology fee exemptions for smaller and free-app developers also differentiated obligations by the affected party and business model.
It also sits beside Apple’s broader dispute with EU rulemaking, including its criticism of interoperability requirements as burdensome. Here, the distinction turns on whether Apple-only products belong to the market covered by Corning’s commitment.
First-order effects
- Apple-designed products are excluded from Corning’s commitment to end OEM exclusivity terms, preserving their separate treatment under the EU’s market definition.
- Corning must apply the commitment to OEM business within the relevant market, while Apple’s excluded products are not subject to that remedy.
Second-order effects
- OEMs covered by the commitment can reassess sourcing and contracting without the affected exclusivity terms; Corning must manage different commercial rules for Apple-specific and covered OEM products.
- The carveout gives rivals and suppliers a clear incentive to scrutinize product-market definitions when remedies are negotiated, rather than assuming a supplier-wide restriction applies uniformly.
Third-order effects
- If this approach persists, EU competition remedies may become more segmented around product design and customer scope, making market definition as consequential as the underlying conduct.
- That can preserve room for bespoke supplier relationships while limiting exclusivity in broader OEM markets, though the practical boundary will depend on how narrowly regulators define each market.
The trend: This is part of a shift toward more targeted EU remedies that constrain conduct in defined markets while allowing exceptions for products deemed outside them.