Russia's FAS Opens Antitrust Case Against Apple for Failing to Pre-Install Domestic Software on iOS Devices
Federal Antimonopoly Service has opened an antitrust case against Apple after the corporation failed to implement a formal warning regarding the mandatory pre-installation of Russian software on iPhone and iPad devices.
The dispute centers on iOS compliance with Russian legislation that requires device manufacturers to enable the use of search services from Russia or other Eurasian Economic Union countries. Initially, Apple devices shipped with a foreign search engine set as default, prompting regulatory action.
Although Apple later stated that an updated version of its software added the option to pre-install a Russian search engine, this measure proved insufficient. According to the FAS, the company still did not fulfill requirements to install the national messenger application and the domestic app store on its devices.
The official warning was issued to Apple on July 1. Because the demands remained unmet, the authority escalated from a warning to formal proceedings. If the violation of competition protection law is confirmed, the company will face an administrative fine under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, with the amount potentially reaching 4 billion rubles.
In parallel, the Russian government has already approved the official list of domestic applications that must be pre-installed on smartphones and tablets beginning January 1, 2027. The mandatory list for mobile devices includes RuStore, Max, Yandex Browser, Alice AI, VKontakte, Gosuslugi, Mir Pay, Mail.ru, 2GIS and additional services.
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