Bloomberg reported on the 21st that Apple lobbying funds in the first quarter reached an all-time high on a quarterly basis. This came as the U.S. Congress stepped up pressure on big tech companies on anti-trust issues.
According to the report released on the same day, Apple spent 2.5 million dollars in lobbying between January and March this year, up 34 percent from 1.86 million dollars in the fourth quarter of last year.
The figure is about 15% higher than $2.2 million in the second quarter of 2017, the largest quarterly figure ever.
Apple said it lobbied for dozens of issues and measures. This included anti-trust bills aimed at reducing the influence of big tech companies.
The “Open App Market Bill” is one of the anti-trust measures under consideration with the support of both parties in Congress. The bill, which bans in-app payments from being enforced in the U.S., prevents app market operators such as Apple and Google from giving preferential treatment to their products.
It prevents apps on its platform from forcing them to pay through its system when paying, and prohibits them from demanding more favorable prices or conditions than other app stores or punishing developers for other price conditions.
Google spent $2.96 million (W3.66 billion) in lobbying funds in the first quarter of 2022. This is up 34 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and the same level as a year ago.
Microsoft’s lobbying funds in the first quarter amounted to $2.5 million, up 2.8 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and down 1.9 percent from a year ago, the report showed.
