Apple plans to let rival app stores on iPhones in EU, Bloomberg reports

FILE PHOTO: An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

(Reuters) -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 that 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.