By Nina Kienle


European Union regulators designated Apple's iPad operating systems as a so-called gatekeeper under the bloc's new digital law, giving the tech giant six months to comply with requirements aimed at making digital markets fair and competitive.

The European Commission--the bloc's executive arm--on Monday said the technology conglomerate's iPadOS, its operating system for tablets, constitutes an important gateway for business users to reach end users.

Apple has six month to ensure its full compliance with obligations included in the EU's Digital Markets Act as applied to iPadOS, it said. The law aims to ensure fair markets and regulates large digital platforms whose position can grant them power to create a bottleneck in the digital economy, the commission said.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In September last year, the Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper for its iOS, browser Safari and App Store, and opened a market investigation to assess whether its iPadOS qualified for the designation as well.


Write to Nina Kienle at nina.kienle@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-29-24 0716ET