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Apple will be the next major target in the latest US crackdown on Big Tech, IAC CEO Joey Levin predicted on CNBC on Friday.
Levin told “Squawk Box” that he thinks “Apple’s next, and I think Apple is, in many ways, worse” than Google, which was sued this week by a group of attorneys general. States. The AGs alleged that the Alphabet unit abused its power over app developers through its Play Store on Android.
Apple has “forced companies into the system,” said Levin, whose company operates Internet properties, such as Angi, which have apps on Apple’s App Store. “They have a monopoly, there is no way around it. And the fees are outrageous, and it spills over to everyone.”
Apple has been staunchly defending its policies, saying the money it receives from commissions is used to maintain and secure the App Store in a way that ultimately benefits app makers.
U.S. Attorneys General “Got It Right” With New Lawsuit Against Google, Levin Added, Speaking To CNBC’s Julia Boorstin Of Sun Valley, Idaho, Where Tech And Media CEOs Returned For An Annual Conference influential after last year’s event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Apple and Google officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Attorneys general for 36 states and the District of Columbia, from both sides, are challenging Google in an antitrust lawsuit. The case is the fourth antitrust lawsuit filed against Google by government officials in the past year.
In a blog post about the new suit, Google said the action ignored Google’s Android choice and the company’s Play Store.
Regulators are the same after Apple, which is also being sued by legal challenges and similar allegations that developers unfairly took a significant portion of payments through their apps by customers, and claims that the company promotes its own apps. compared to those of its rivals.
Barry Diller, president of IAC and Expedia, told CNBC in May that Apple is overcharging companies that have apps on the iPhone maker’s app store “in a disgusting way.” Apple charges a 30% commission rate on in-app transactions for large businesses and 15% for some smaller developers.
The lawsuit against Google is the latest in a series of challenges against major tech players, with President Joe Biden also set to sign a new executive order to reform corporate consolidation and antitrust laws.
“I think the world could use competition. I think the world could use some regulation to scale these companies now, there is a lot of power concentrated in very few hands,” Levin said, adding that it It is a delicate job to implement regulations as they frequently favor the incumbent. “It will be good for innovation, if they can do it right.”
The CEO doesn’t believe antitrust legislation will impact IAC’s ability to grow, saying the company has divested all of its major businesses, including Match Group and Vimeo, and is focused on rebuilding in acquiring “new businesses in new fields”.
Looking ahead, Levin said the IAC incubator is focusing on blockchain and smart contract developments, calling the technology “an exciting new wave of transformation.” Blockchain, which stores data in blocks that are then chained together, is the digital ledger behind cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are smart contracts that uniquely certify digital assets.
“What I think we’re probably going to do is evolve the incubator to focus exclusively or significantly on things that involve blockchain and smart contracts,” Levin said. “New companies will be formed and new ideas or approaches to things will be formed, and I think we would like to start experimenting there.”
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