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Company that would have never survived let alone thrived without the iPhone claims they’ve been stifled by Apple. Please, go on…
They were doing fine on desktop. And they would have been fine if they could distribute their app on the website for the iPhone.
 
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The only thing I have ever felt was wrong about the App Store rules was that apps cannot provide links to their websites to sign up for service.

Clearly, launching the link in an embedded web view would be misleading to the user and make them think that they were buying through the App Store leading to a cost for Apple to field customer service calls.

But a link that triggered a message telling the user it would leave the app and open the vendor’s website would be straightforward and not confuse people — especially if they have to enter their credit card (something they never do through the App Store).

However, I do feel that Apple’s arguments in this case are solid and I have a problem punishing a company for anti-competitive behavior when they are not the market share leader in music streaming (Spotify) nor in mobile OS platform (Android). When the market share leader (e.g.: Spotify for music and Amazon for ebooks) is able to muzzle their competitors through government regulation it feels like state sponsored anti-competitive behavior.

Also, where is that fine going? To Spotify or to help pay down EU government debts?
 
The only thing I have ever felt was wrong about the App Store rules was that apps cannot provide links to their websites to sign up for service.

Clearly, launching the link in an embedded web view would be misleading to the user and make them think that they were buying through the App Store leading to a cost for Apple to field customer service calls.

But a link that triggered a message telling the user it would leave the app and open the vendor’s website would be straightforward and not confuse people — especially if they have to enter their credit card (something they never do through the App Store).

However, I do feel that Apple’s arguments in this case are solid and I have a problem punishing a company for anti-competitive behavior when they are not the market share leader in music streaming (Spotify) nor in mobile OS platform (Android). When the market share leader (e.g.: Spotify for music and Amazon for ebooks) is able to muzzle their competitors through government regulation it feels like state sponsored anti-competitive behavior.

Also, where is that fine going? To Spotify or to help pay down EU government debts?
I think the fine is going to the EU. I am not sure if Spotify will see a dime from the 2 billion fine.
 
why does anybody have to tell customers that there are cheaper alternatives available? That's for customers to find out and for companies to market as such. I didn't know IOS effectively blocked Spotify from marketing its products as "cheaper alternative," which is factually incorrect to begin with.

Does Spotify alert its customers that Youtube Music is a cheaper alternative? I have never been an Apple apologist, but I don't understand this ruling at all.
Why would I not want to inform my customers that cheaper alternatives are available so that I can get more subscribers? When Apple Music is $9.99 and Spotify is $12.99 due to Apple tax, customers are going to select AM even though it is inferior. If Spotify can tell the customers that they can get premium at $9.99 from their websites, will it not help them? Also, how many customers Spotify must have lost because of this Apple's anti-steering rule?
 
And then investigate every European company. Major artists should also start a lawsuit against Spotify for being underpaid. Eventually they should leave Spotify for good.
I agree with this. Without the music labels and artist, Spotify would be dead in a month. Artist need to be fairly compensated for their work. 1 cent a stream should be the minimum. Of course Spotify will complain to the EU that it’s not fair as well and demand music be provided free to them.


If these companies or even the EU was serious about competition, they would pour resources into building a modern OS to compete with Android and Apples OSs


Also, funny how the EU never fined Nokia or RIM for their phone dominance.
 
Muzzled. Spotify is nearly $1 billion in the red even with an IPO and a $270/share current price tag and an absurdly inflated $53.23B evaluation with a P/E of - (meaning they are in the RED).

Spotify brings nothing to the table. Apple created the subscription Podcast industry via Steve Jobs in 2005 providing the first global revenue service, made the first truly viable Streaming Audio Music service that pleased global music production houses and now we have a company that is valued at over $53 billion and yet continues to operate further and further into the RED.

That mismanagement has nothing to do with Apple blocking them. The only thing keeping Spotify not being further in debt is their investments in other stocks/funds to offset their losses and prop up their assets.

Apple investing heavier into Sports Broadcasting, Film, Television series and Documentaries will only more than offset this $2 billion fine.

Apple is ramping up investments anywhere from $10-$20 billion annually in AI server gear [and not the vast bulk of it, if any at all, will be with Team Green], along side expanded investments in AI for on-device Neural Processing to interact with IoT across every hop of the Internet.

The next frontier of Networks deals with the stuff from AMD Pensando, Nokia, Palo Alto Networks and more must all be factored in those plans.

Stuff like the following Apple will have deeply connected interest in with collaborations seeing as 5G, but more importantly 6G requires patent access rights and licensing from Nokia, Vodafone, Ericsson and Samsung, etc.,


While Nvidia is currently booming in their neck of the woods, most AI will be living in trafficking data safely, with low latency around the globe and across distributed and redundant back end cloud services for heavy computation and efficient throughput outcomes.

There is a reason AMD spent over $45 billion buying Pensando and Xilinx. It wasn't to catch up but to skate to where the puck will be. Apple never publicly announces large purchases from vendors for backend services. They never will. They just quietly keep purchasing and upgrading their entire iCloud global services.

Streaming Networks the world over, to billions of devices will need end-to-end AI to keep those services running smoothly. Apple will partner with industry leaders in networking to make sure their end-to-end user experience remains the best.

Stuff like this from Nokia is just beginning to roll out in 2024.


These will be all over large metropolitan areas including down to mid-size cities.

This ‘fine' gets fans of Spotify orgasmic but it's like a rain drop to the bigger picture.
If AM is so good, it should stop the anti-steering measures and compete fairly. It cannot have separate rules for itself and separate rules for other music streaming apps like Spotify. Nobody is saying Spotify is better than AM or otherwise. All they are asking for is to level the playing field. This is how Apple skews the playing fields for itself.

 
Stealing? That's a bold statement.

It's time for the commission fee to be reduced, yes, but not to $0.00.

Apple 100% deserves compensation for what it delivers to the market.

The real problem is the lack of platform competition. iOS and Android need a third and fourth contender.
When alternative app stores are allowed, then we will know how much maintaining the app store costs.
 
If AM is so good, it should stop the anti-steering measures and compete fairly. It cannot have separate rules for itself and separate rules for other music streaming apps like Spotify. Nobody is saying Spotify is better than AM or otherwise. All they are asking for is to level the playing field. This is how Apple skews the playing fields for itself.

They are doing the exact same they did when they started. It’s Spotify and the EU who are changing the rules.
 
They were doing fine on desktop. And they would have been fine if they could distribute their app on the website for the iPhone.
I respectfully disagree with the thought that they could have survived as a company on their desktop business and/or a mobile web app. It’s truly wishful thinking that they wouldn’t have gone chapter 11 without the iPhone.
 
“Muzzled…” says the streaming company with a market share larger than all other streaming services combined. I don’t think that word means what they think it means.
What makes you think it could not have been larger if Apple had not muzzled Spotify? Spotify has clearly explained why it is complaining. Easy read.

 
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Not to mention, Apple actually pays their artists.
Ha!
Which one do you believe is true:
  1. Apple pays record labels more than required out of the goodness of their hearts.
  2. Apple is worse at negotiating than Spotify.
Because I'm pretty sure neither of those is true. The real reason is option 3:
  • Apple doesn't have free tier. Free/ad-supported music streaming services pay less per stream than subscription services.
 
I would gladly love to develop and distribute apps myself for Nintendo Switch, Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, Tesla cars, Sony A7 IV cameras, and etc...but they won't open up. Does this mean a law should be made to open them up? I don't think so.

Even the PS Vita was a general purpose device with cellular capability and had social media apps like Twitter. Even Sony had final say of everything that goes on the device. So I don't buy this "general purpose devices must be open" assertion.
Don't know where you are from. In the EU, the DMA specifies some companies as Gatekeepers. For now, Apple is one of them. The EU is concentrating on them for now. The definition of Gatekeeper could change later and more companies might be brought into the net. Once that is done, all these might come into the picture. This is the scenario in the EU. If you are from the EU, you might have to wait. If you are not from the EU, I encourage you to talk to your government and ask them for similar or more stringent provisions. In fact, you can do that even if you are from the EU.
 
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What makes you think it could not have been larger if Apple had not muzzled Spotify? Spotify has clearly explained why it is complaining. Easy read.

I don't think you know what muzzling means either. If anyone can be called a monopoly, it's Spotify. Apple is a distant non-competitor in fourth place, yet they're being hit with anti-competitive practices. When governments go after monopolies, it's usually the top dogs they go after, not the guy who didn't even place. The only reason they went after Apple is pure protectionism. They want to protect their EU companies against competition. The ruling is a surprise to nobody who understands politics. Fairness is never the issue, though it's always the mask. Spotify greased some palms, plain and simple.

Europe suffers from this protectionism and nanny state policies by crushing EU innovation. Nothing of note comes out of the EU while most innovation comes out of the United States. People in the EU may feel more protected and coddled, but it's at the cost of losing innovation. Everything they do discourages risk taking because anyone who does gets slapped down.
 
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And you seem to be forgetting that users pay Apple a significant amount of money for their devices which funds all the things you describe. Apple is double-dipping on both sides. Using your logic, petrol stations should have to pay car manufacturers for putting R&D into petrol powered engines.
Apple has to pay for research and development of hardware and software, software maintenance, parts, profit, legal fees, labor, and more from the price of hardware. Those free software updates aren't free on both sides.

We don't pay for the App Store through our devices. We pay for it through our purchases on the App Store.
 
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