Apple removed Tile trackers from its stores because they ‘did not sell well’

During the ongoing Epic v. Apple App Store antitrust hearing, Spotify referred to Apple’s digital platform as an “abusive power grab.” At the same time, Tile said that the tech giant’s store is used to “unfairly limit competition for its products.”

Kyle Andeer, Apple’s vice-president and chief compliance officer, sent a letter to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in response to Tile, Spotify and Match’s testimonies. He said, “The developers who testified at the hearing were among some of the largest and most successful on the App Store, and their testimony was focused more on grievances related to business disputes with Apple than on competition concerns with the App Store.”

Tile said in its testimony that Apple removed its trackers from the Apple Store because of the emergence of AirTag, a claim the tech giant refuted. Apple said that Tile’s item trackers sold poorly at Apple Stores, especially after the launch of AirTag, and that’s why the product was axed from its stores.

Additionally, Tile had expressed concern that because its item-trackers were sold at the company’s stores, Apple would have details on its sales performance, which it could then use for AirTag development.

Apple’s full statement is available below:

“Years ago, Apple had some information about how Tile products sold in Apple’s retail store. It did not sell well. Tile sells its products through dozens of retailers around the globe and its own website. Any information from Apple Store retail sales is both very limited and very outdated and likely no different from the information other brick-and-mortar stores have about products sold in those stores. Nonetheless, Apple has never used any of that information in any decision making related to ‌AirTags‌.”

In other related news, Tile is scrambling to compete with the AirTag and has joined Amazon’s Sidewalk network.

Source: 9to5mac