What you need to know
- Apple will attend the upcoming U.S. Senate antitrust hearing.
- The company's attendance was in question last week.
Apple will be attending the upcoming Senate antitrust hearing in the United States after all.
Last week, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee penned a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook requesting that the company reverse its decision not to attend an upcoming hearing on antitrust. In the letter, the senators say that Apple was coordinating with their offices but then backed out two weeks before the hearing was set to begin.
Earlier this year, Apple provided witnesses to testify before the North Dakota Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives to oppose state bills that would regulate the very same conduct that the Subcommittee intends to explore. You testified before the House Antitrust Subcommittee regarding these same issues last year. And on the exact day Apple informed the Subcommittee that it would not provide a witness for an April hearing, the New York Times released a podcast interview in which you discuss competition issues relating to Apple's App Store, including Apple's pending litigation with Epic Games.
According to a report from Bloomberg, however, Apple does plan to attend the hearing. In a letter back to the senators, the company says that it will make Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer available for testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights on April 21.
"We have deep respect for your role and process on these matters and, as we told your staff, we are willing to participate in a hearing in the subcommittee," Apple said. "We simply sought alternative dates in light of upcoming matters that have been scheduled for some time and that touch on similar issues."Andeer previously testified on several matters for Apple before the House of Representatives and other U.S. lawmakers. The Senate Subcommittee is investigating both Apple and Google over competition issues and concerns from app developers.
Apple is facing increasing pressure over the App Store from governments and developers alike. Tim Cook recently gave an interview saying that the store would devolve into a "flea market" if companies like Epic Games won their case against the company.
