• Last Wednesday, a bipartisan group of Senators launched a bill to rein the growing mobile operating system dominance of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google.
• The Open App Markets Act threatens the iPhone maker's $22 billion in annual high-margin revenue it makes from the App store. Apple has protested against the bill citing user security and privacy concerns, Bloomberg reported
• Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT), Tile Inc, and Match Group Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH) had previously alleged that Apple and Google's app stores are barriers to competition, especially their commissions on mobile device transactions. Epic Games too leveled similar allegations and is seeking its payment system for in-app purchases in its games.
• The bill can have far-reaching consequences if it becomes the law. An iPhone owner would be able to download another app store to bypass Apple's or install apps and its approval process.
• App makers like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), and Spotify can direct customers to their websites to sign up for subscriptions, dodging Apple's commissions.
• Bloomberg notes that the law could be a boon for Amazon as it owns an app store and Spotify too, which itself has been blamed for unfair competition and shoddy treatment of artists.
• Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) can also defend its Xbox gaming service from the bill's provisions by projecting it as an entertainment console instead of a computing platform.