After 8 months of pending approval, the European Commission has approved Apple’s purchase of English-based company, Shazam, a mobile application which is known for its ability to identify music. The 8- month long investigation concluded that Apple’s acquisition of Shazam Music would not hinder market competition.

Apple announced its acquisition of Shazam in December 2017. Shazam has the highest amount of users among its competitors with downloads accumulating to over 10 billion. Apple has yet to disclose the acquisition amount, but sources from The Verge estimates the acquisition to value above USD 400 million.

The European Commission Chairwoman, Ms. Margrethe Vestager points out, information is only relevant to the economic status and the European Commission has carefully assessed the acquisition including the companies’ agreements and acquisition information. The officials of the European Commission said that investigation was necessary to ensure that competing providers would not be shut out of the market from competition.

The European Commission has launched an investigation of the acquisition in April as problem and concern arise that it could potentially disrupt the market and existing competition as Apple will be given access to sensitive customer information giving it an unfair advantage in the market. In the months of the assessment, the European Commission has concluded that Apple’s access to existing customer information from Shazam will not materially increase Apple’s ability to target uses and conduct any unfair competition impact.

The market believes that Shazam’s large customer database and technology will help Apple Music surpass other music applications such as Spotify. Shazam music has the ability to identify songs and music and be integrated into IOS and Siri to allow a smooth user experience. Shazam’s AR platform can also link to Apple’s ARKit and AR glasses. Until May this year, Apple Music and Spotify has acquired 50 million and 170 billion users, respectively.

Source: IT Home