Apple Inc is preparing to allow alternative app stores on its iPhones and iPads in the European Union as soon as late next year to comply with a new European competition law it had fought, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Opening up to outside app stores could present a major threat to Apple's fast-growing services business, but rivals would first have to surmount the hurdle of convincing consumers to leave the security and simplicity of using Apple's own store.
