Not only that, I am sure if it does pass, several market players that aren't Apple and aren't happy with the wording will sue to stop it from becoming law.
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Epic Games Says Court 'Reached the Wrong Answer' and Made 'Multiple Legal Errors' in Apple Fight
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The private snafus like Pegasus, that shredded Apple's so-called "secure" platform"?
They can only appeal any fines which will be in billions. Apple will definitely rack up billions in fines due to its various transgressions.
Not if that 30% is eaten away by loss of App Store profits, brand value and brand image.
Sounds like operating in the EU could become VERY expensive to Apple. Might even erode the worth of the EU based revenues. And, it’s not like Apple would lose 100% of those sales. Folks in the EU that want an iPhone will still be able to get one and use an App Store that’s not based in the EU.
They have already sold billions of iPhones in the EU. They have to service them. They cannot escape by leaving the EU. The EU has treaties with the US that will allow it to punish any US-based company.
You have to factor in the fact that once it leaves the EU and all those other countries that are going to pursue antitrust actions against it, it will be difficult for it to enter those markets again. Somebody else will take Apple's place. In some of those markets, Apple might never be able to enter. It might not be able to sell any other Apple product at all for a considerable period of time.
Patched wasn't it? Just like the boxes the police in the US bought that are now just bricks.
What says they have to service them? There are iPhones in the EU that don’t receive software updates anymore… I guesss the EU is going to force Apple to start supporting those and the Apple II again? The EU has the freedom to make the choices it makes without regard to how those changes will affect the profits of the companies that operate in the market. Each individual company has to decide whether operating in the EU is worth it. Some will find it is, some will find it won’t and each company will make the choices that keeps them in business “around the world”, not the one that keeps them in business JUST in the EU.
And, Apple will approach it on a case by case basis. If the EU makes changes that makes it too expensive for several non-EU companies to operate in the EU, other countries will look at how they can take more measured steps that will keep those local developers/publishers operational, making millions in local currencies and keeping a flow of money into those local businesses those developers/publishers depend on.
Apple already has minority share in the EU. If the EU wants Apple out, say, in order to build their own phone and services, it’s not the EU’s job to make sure Apple can return. If Apple’s not able to enter the market because the EU doesn’t want them there, there’s really no recourse for Apple.
Apple don't have any obligation towards their devices outside of the warranty period.
Unless they've expressly put a support period on their products (e.g. guaranteed updates & support for 5 years) they owe the consumer nothing; continued updates outside of that period is just goodwill.
Unless they've expressly put a support period on their products (e.g. guaranteed updates & support for 5 years) they owe the consumer nothing; continued updates outside of that period is just goodwill.
They have a legal obligation to provide warranty for minimum 3 years from the date of sale of any of their gods in EU. Them leaving doesn’t remove their obligations
It removes the rather enormous obligation to distribute any future phones in the EU, as well. And, there’s no requirement to provide services like. Apple Music, Apple One, etc. They don’t have to maintain retail stores. And, for the three years of warranty they could just maintain the current network of Apple Authorized centers. After the three years, though, some would stay in business as folks will still be able to BUY iDevices, just not from within EU countries.
Maybe this is why Apple’s not predicting an increase in iPhone sales this year as they’re assuming they’re going to take a hit in the EU?
This is the EU law regarding warranties and guarantees and their right to repair during the guarantee period. Apple has to abide by them. They just cannot up and leave.
Consumer guarantees, warranties, claims and returns - Your Europe
Learn more about your after sales responsibilities, returns, legal guarantees, commercial warranties, and customer claims.
They will find it difficult to reenter the EU market once they leave not because the EU does not want them but because people will get used to alternatives and may find it difficult to switch back. Look at Google. They left China and China developed alternatives due to which they cannot enter again.
More than all these, they cannot run their Appstore in the EU. Not sure what issues that will cause to Apple if they have users who can no longer access the Appstore. How will they get updates to their existing apps? Will Apple remove the store and just publish their first-party apps on their website in the EU so that the users in the EU will be able to update them or will they ditch their millions of users with no updates? Then they would have to provide an update to iOS so that they can install apps from websites, which is what the EU wanted.
Tough luck Apple.
They CAN up and leave, though. There are places already in the EU that perform Apple Certified warranty support, right? As long as that support is still provided, it doesn’t have to be provided DIRECTLY by Apple. Even if it needed to be provided BY Apple, I’m sure the mail services in the EU will have capacity for folks to ship their products to Apple for warranty repair. OR is there an upcoming EU requirement that will force Apple to post an employee outside every residence to handle the warranty returns for them?
I mean, it’s the EU, they’re VERY consumer protective, so I wouldn’t be surprised. Not required for any OTHER companies, mind you, the regulation will include verbiage like “This will apply to ALL companies with 5 letter company names that start with A, end with E, are named after fruit and founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak”.
After the rules change, I’m assuming the EU won’t change them back. Once the rules makes it so that the region is no longer profitable enough, it will, from that point forward CONTINUE to not be profitable enough. Apple will survive, just on 30% lower profits. There will be a hit to their stock, but there’s still that 70% profit that will continue (plus, some folks in the EU will find their way to purchase gray market phones if they want, so the entire 30% won’t even disappear).
The US is coming up with similar regulation though it remains to be seen if lobbying will water it down. However, UK, S. Korea, Japan, India, and others will be coming up with something similar. It will be a lot less than 70%. This is a company that sells microfiber cloth for $20, do you think they will forego 30% of their revenue for something like this?
And? If the EU passes regulations that make it untenable to continue operating the App Store in the EU, it’s not like Apple can ignore the rules the EU sets in place and continue to operate (are you implying that they should ignore the rules the EU sets in place?). They might have to shut down the App Store rather than go against the rules of the EU which is the right and proper thing to do. That means users in the EU will have no recourse but to use their iPhones as basic phones or, if they want apps, they can purchase other phones that are still available in the EU. Maybe the EU could offer some form of “EU Phone Credit” to help folks make the transition (and Apple servers would have to stay up long enough to aid in the transition of services from those Apple devices).
I’d imagine that some applications, like Spotify, would have to stop providing service via iPhones in the EU since they’d no longer be able to update the apps on those phones. There would be a LOT of users ditched.
If Apple under this scenario would no longer be operating in the EU, they wouldn’t have to provide ANYTHING to users in the EU other than the physical device warranty support required.
It will be. Watered down or put on the back burner for an extended time due to higher priorities.
India’s actually coming up with their own phone and services which is actually the innovative idea. It won’t be easy, but with their population, a government subsided phone is bound to be profitable enough to sustain it’s development. S. Korea, Japan are both presenting more measured legislation and in no way are considering full control of the product/services like the EU and the UK are. And, if these type of rules would cause the profit equation to be altered significantly with the EU, the UK’s situation would be even worse.
You keep saying 30%, but the the EU’s value to Apple is provided by THE CURRENT RULES ONLY.
If the rules change, that 30% can become 5% with the stroke of a pen (the EU has no requirement to consider the impact to business profits as they make their decisions). Yes, they would certainly forego 5% of their revenue.
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The profit share could become 70% too. People currently buying premium Android phones because they think iPhones cannot be tinkered with, may end up buying iPhones because now they can do those things on an iPhone. Who knows what the future holds? It is just that Apple is terrified that it has to compete now as it has gotten used to coasting and rent seeking.It will be. Watered down or put on the back burner for an extended time due to higher priorities.
India’s actually coming up with their own phone and services which is actually the innovative idea. It won’t be easy, but with their population, a government subsided phone is bound to be profitable enough to sustain it’s development. S. Korea, Japan are both presenting more measured legislation and in no way are considering full control of the product/services like the EU and the UK are. And, if these type of rules would cause the profit equation to be altered significantly with the EU, the UK’s situation would be even worse.
You keep saying 30%, but the the EU’s value to Apple is provided by THE CURRENT RULES ONLY.
I'm saying, just closing down operations will not save Apple. They still have to provide warranty services and if they do not, they will have another problem on their hands. It is up to Apple whether it wants to ditch its users by not providing app updates. If they do not want to run their Appstore (which is the main issue here), then they can enable sideloading in iOS so that they can update their apps directly from the developers. Or they can stop providing app updates, which will alienate them from the customers and makes it highly difficult for them to ever come back. Remember, they will not only be selling phones, they will be selling many other things like laptops, cars, AR glasses, and who knows what in the coming years and for all those products, the EU and UK may not exist as a market for a long period.
Yes.
Apple is terrified because as the posters on MR rightfully point out, unregulated app stores :
- are going to cause degradation of brand image and brand value
- apple will lose billions
- apple will no longer be family friendly
- App Store will be a race to the bottom
Imo
And good for apple for rent seeking. Let the devs go somewhere else. Apple handed their fortunes to them on a silver platter.
Does not matter who provides the support, Apple will be held responsible.
How much of Apple's brand image has degraded due to the scam apps that Apple has RIGHT NOW in the store?
App Store scam apps make up almost 2% of top-grossing apps - 9to5Mac
Checks run by the Washington Post revealed that App Store scam apps make up almost 2% of the top-grossing apps, despite CEO Tim Cook ...
9to5mac.com
How much of Apple's brand image has degraded due to the increase in zero-day vulnerabilities?
How much of Apple's brand image has degraded when they handed over personal data to John does posing as authorities (From July to December 2020, Apple received 1,162 emergency requests, and it had provided data response to 93% of those requests.)
Apple and Facebook reportedly provided personal user data to hackers posing as law enforcement - 9to5Mac
In mid-2021, Apple provided customer data to hackers after they masqueraded themselves as law enforcement officials, shows a new report.
9to5mac.com
Are you sure you are not kidding about the degradation of Apple's brand image for something as trivial as sideloading? Just pure FUD.