UK Antitrust Watchdog Closes Apple App Store Investigation, Case to Be Reconsidered Under New Digital Rules Regime

[AppliedMicro]

Is the EU government just bored always going after Apple for nonsense?

Newsflash: The United Kingdom and its government aren't in the E.U. anymore.

 

[surferfb]

Agreed

It's extortion

Have words lost all meaning? No one is forcing you to buy Apple products. No one is threatening bodily harm if you chose a Pixel or a Dell. So no, it's not extortion.

It's a company charging what they think the market will bear. And it appears the market will bear those prices quite well.

 

[breenmask]

I’m happy the EU and others stick their nose in it. Let them also look into the RAM issue… why is Apple charging 4x more for the same RAM (Apple will likely get much cheaper than consumers) than consumers can buy them from the vendor? Same for SSD. This isn’t business, this is a forced rip off by Apple.

if a company charges 100000000000x for RAM, simply don't buy it.

also, burger shops sell soft drinks for 10x more than it costs fyi. but I guess it's not run by Apple so that's ok to do?

 

[JapanApple]

I’m happy the EU and others stick their nose in it. Let them also look into the RAM issue… why is Apple charging 4x more for the same RAM (Apple will likely get much cheaper than consumers) than consumers can buy them from the vendor? Same for SSD. This isn’t business, this is a forced rip off by Apple.

Good for you in your opinion but not everybody else agrees

 

[breenmask]

Have words lost all meaning? No one is forcing you to buy Apple products.

100%

It boggles the mind that people can't seem to understand that buying Apple products is purely optional. There's Windows/Android. Until the day Apple is considered a true monopoly in phone and/or computer business, the whole idea that they are forcing customers to do anything is purely a fallacy. A ridiculous fallacy I might add.

 

[breenmask]

No, because a filmmaker can distribute their movies elsewhere. Can't distribute iOS apps elsewhere.

movies shot in IMAX need to be released in IMAX compatible theaters.

unless you convert the aspect ratio which is analogous to converting iOS apps to Android.

also, unless they didn't shoot in IMAX which means they can go to other theaters, which is analogous to developing apps without Apple APIs (like using web based technologies) so that they can easily take their apps to other platforms.

 

[AppliedMicro]

also, burger shops sell soft drinks for 10x more than it costs fyi. but I guess it's not run by Apple so that's ok to do?

Burgers aren't distributed in a duopoly.
You can in fact easily prepare your own burger at home.

It boggles the mind that people can't seem to understand that buying Apple products is purely optional

Buying a smartphone isn't "purely optional".
And there's a choice of only two relevant (operating system) platforms in the marketplace.

Until the day Apple is considered a true monopoly in phone and/or computer business

The regulation, whether in the EU or the UK is about companies having monopoly power.
Monopoly power doesn't mean that they're literally the only company company in the market.

 

[wbeasley]

I do honestly wonder if you could sideload anywhere if you change your region to the EU.

geolocked. not user selectable.
rechecks after a few weeks (I think) to ensure you arent moving around and leaving it enabled.

 

[Wanted797]

Not if you believe consoles should also allow alternative marketplaces. One step at a time.

Why should they?

 

[breenmask]

Burgers aren't distributed in a duopoly.
You can in fact easily prepare your own burger at home.

There is no duopoly in the laptop business.
You can build your own laptop at home. https://frame.work
Apple can absolutely charge 100000000000x for their ram options on the MacBook.

Buying a smartphone isn't "purely optional".

I said Apple products. Not Smartphone. Buying Apple products is absolutely, 100% "purely optional" and this is a cold hard fact you cannot deny.

And there's a choice of only two relevant (operating system) platforms in the marketplace.

And there's one that satisfies your RAM cost/sideloading/other complaints. That one has a larger global marketshare.

The regulation, whether in the EU or the UK is about companies having monopoly power.
Monopoly power doesn't mean that they're literally the only company company in the market.

Windows/Android are great alternatives and people have much easier access to those products than Apple devices considering their global marketshare dwarves Apple's marketshare.

 

[svish]

Looks like Apple will be facing issues in the UK

 

[surferfb]

if a company charges 100000000000x for RAM, simply don't buy it.

also, burger shops sell soft drinks for 10x more than it costs fyi. but I guess it's not run by Apple so that's ok to do?

Wait until they find out how much luxury brands mark up their products.

Just as an example, the steel Rolex Submariner that costs Rolex $300-500 to make is sold for over $10k. (The gold one is made out of $3-5k worth of gold and is sold for $40k).

AND you can’t actually buy it at the retail price unless you’ve already spent thousands of dollars on other, less desirable watches and/or ridiculously marked up jewelry at your Authorized Dealer (i.e., jewelry store with a Rolex license) or have a connection to someone who has. And even then, you have to wait months or years to actually be “offered the opportunity” to buy the watch.

Or you can pay buy it from a non-authorized dealer without the wait, but to pay $15-16k and have to watch out for scams.

But, sure. Apple charging $100 for an extra 8GB of RAM is definitely extortion that the EU should be investigating.

 

[Shirasaki]

Kind of like the Taiwanese flag and Chinese iPhones?

Much more than that. For example, they can check the Carrier that your phone hooks up to during activation and regular usage to determine the approx Location. Location services can also help. In addition, they can flag device serial numbers so that only devices sold in EU can be permitted to do side loading. Lots of different ways.

 

[Shirasaki]

Have words lost all meaning? No one is forcing you to buy Apple products. No one is threatening bodily harm if you chose a Pixel or a Dell. So no, it's not extortion.

It's a company charging what they think the market will bear. And it appears the market will bear those prices quite well.

Words dont Have meaning unless people give them the meaning. I can point to a desk and call it a chair.
Put that aside, while it is true that no one is “physically threatening anyone” to buy Apple products or pixel or whatever, it still doesn’t change the fact that company holds enormous power and influence to sway and limit your options. I’d say that’s perfectly extortion.

if a company charges 100000000000x for RAM, simply don't buy it.

also, burger shops sell soft drinks for 10x more than it costs fyi. but I guess it's not run by Apple so that's ok to do?

So, ok. By that logic, supermarket chains can charge €150k for all 10kg of rice, $300k for 1kg of pasta, $9000 for a bottle of water And so on, then customer just don’t eat And drink?

100%

It boggles the mind that people can't seem to understand that buying Apple products is purely optional. There's Windows/Android. Until the day Apple is considered a true monopoly in phone and/or computer business, the whole idea that they are forcing customers to do anything is purely a fallacy. A ridiculous fallacy I might add.

It’s also a Ridiculous fallacy to equate “monopoly” with “90%+ market share with no competitors whatsoever”. It’s such a narrow definition I’d argue. Maybe EU defines monopoly differently than in US or other jurisditions?
Or, maybe there are millions of people cheering for companies and corporations to do whatever they feel like it, with no consequences whatsoever. I guess Apple is allowed to enter home market, furniture market, design market etc and since the competition is already there Apple should never be considered monopoly under any of those markets even if they charge 10x the competitor price for their “boutique” products.

 

[wbeasley]

There is no duopoly in the laptop business.
You can build your own laptop at home. https://frame.work
Apple can absolutely charge 100000000000x for their ram options on the MacBook.



I said Apple products. Not Smartphone. Buying Apple products is absolutely, 100% "purely optional" and this is a cold hard fact you cannot deny.



And there's one that satisfies your RAM cost/sideloading/other complaints. That one has a larger global marketshare.


Windows/Android are great alternatives and people have much easier access to those products than Apple devices considering their global marketshare dwarves Apple's marketshare.

Yes but they want it all
It's ALL about them. Surely you've worked it out over the months of this chatter?

They dont like the restrictions BUT they like all the other stuff more so expect Apple to open up for them.
Regardless that's been closed since Day 1 and they bought their devices knowing that.
This is a battle you wont win with them.
Everything you said makes sense to most of us.
If I was feeling so passionately about the limits, I would just buy a different device that did what I wanted.

 

[wbeasley]

Words dont Have meaning unless people give them the meaning. I can point to a desk and call it a chair.
Put that aside, while it is true that no one is “physically threatening anyone” to buy Apple products or pixel or whatever, it still doesn’t change the fact that company holds enormous power and influence to sway and limit your options. I’d say that’s perfectly extortion.

So, ok. By that logic, supermarket chains can charge €150k for all 10kg of rice, $300k for 1kg of pasta, $9000 for a bottle of water And so on, then customer just don’t eat And drink?

It’s also a Ridiculous fallacy to equate “monopoly” with “90%+ market share with no competitors whatsoever”. It’s such a narrow definition I’d argue. Maybe EU defines monopoly differently than in US or other jurisditions?
Or, maybe there are millions of people cheering for companies and corporations to do whatever they feel like it, with no consequences whatsoever. I guess Apple is allowed to enter home market, furniture market, design market etc and since the competition is already there Apple should never be considered monopoly under any of those markets even if they charge 10x the competitor price for their “boutique” products.

The sky is blue because we collectively agree the word is used that way in English.
So words do have meaning...

The outrageous prices on food you mention? Well there are companies who make no brand versions for supermarkets while still selling their own name brand for much much more. Customers decide the value of what they buy.
No value? Sales suffer. Simple.

Last paragraph? more suppositions presented without links to back up the claims. You've been listening to Trump speeches it seems. I'm surprised you didnt mention Hannibal Lechter or mental asylum invaders...

 

[AppliedMicro]

There is no duopoly in the laptop business.

…which is why it and its pricing aren’t regulated by regulators and/or law.

I said Apple products. Not Smartphone. Buying Apple products is absolutely, 100% "purely optional" and this is a cold hard fact you cannot deny.

It isn’t so optional to buy either an Android or iOS phone.

And there's one that satisfies your RAM cost/sideloading/other complaints. That one has a larger global marketshare.

Having just one that satisfies consumers or developers isn’t “choice”. There’s a lack of choice - especially given how both are tacitly colluding to offer very similar store/commission models.

Windows/Android are great alternatives and people have much easier access to those products than Apple devices considering their global marketshare dwarves Apple's marketshare.

Global market share doesn’t really matter to local lawmakers and regulators.
And Apple is estimated to command more than half (a majority) of mobile app consumer spending.

 

[breenmask]

So, ok. By that logic, supermarket chains can charge €150k for all 10kg of rice, $300k for 1kg of pasta, $9000 for a bottle of water

Yep, absolutely. Super Apple Grocers can run amazing ads and say how they reinvented rice and pasta and how their bottle of the water is the purest of all.

And then customers will see through the BS and just visit Super Android Grocers for $10 bag rice, $2 for 1kg of pasta, and $1 for a bottle of water.

Nobody is forced to shop at Super Apple Grocers.

 

[breenmask]

…which is why it and its pricing aren’t regulated by regulators and/or law.

🤦‍♂️ and? you joined in on the conversation about the issue with Apple's RAM pricing with MacBooks (I was responding to "why is Apple charging 4x more for the same RAM (Apple will likely get much cheaper than consumers) than consumers can buy them from the vendor?"). It sounds like you agree with me that this RAM pricing should not be regulated, so case closed.

 

[AppliedMicro]

you joined in on the conversation about the issue with Apple's RAM pricing with MacBook

Tangential at best to this thread.
But I agree it’s merely a rip-off on Apple’s part and not one for government regulation.

 

[9081094]

Is the EU government just bored always going after Apple for nonsense? Lmao

No, they’re going after companies that misbehave and misuse their power to get even richer on behalf of the consumer.

I’m happy the EU is looking into misbehavior by companies.

So far we got USB-C, better behavior of the AppStore, right to repair, two years of full warranty.

Unless people don’t mind being a cash cow, I don’t understand the complaints about the EU law protecting consumers.

It’s not only Apple who’s under a microscope, all big tech companies who misuse their power are!

Let’s hope the EU will also looking into the RAM and SSD’s misuse of Apple. Or are you saying that their pricing policy is fair for these?

 

[9081094]

In what possible world is Apple's pricing of RAM and SSD upgrades an antitrust concern?!?!?! Even the staunchest DMA defenders on MacRumors concede there is significant competition in the hardware market.

Because you don’t have a choice. Buy Apple’s extremely expensive RAM/SSD or get a computer that isn’t future proof. Since all is soldered on the board… you have no choice.

THAT: is misuse of power!

Please EU look into this!

 

[Force11111]

I imagine the decision to close the investigations and reopen them later is to avoid any issues with the investigations having started under different legal circumstances. The CMA seems to now have more options available to it that may allow for the new investigations to have a wider scope, so it may be that they want to re-examine the facts of the case based on the new powers.

Honestly, I can only see this as being a positive for consumers. I don't care if Apple loses some of it's precious BILLIONS in App Store revenue because they might not get 30% of every sale of something that happens on an iPhone. The fact they're even going after platforms like Patreon, who themselves only take an 8% cut of the proceeds, shows it's nothing but sheer bloody avarice at this point. They have no part in the entire process, other than the initial app download. They don't host content for Patreon, they didn't process payments for Patreon until they decided to force Patreon into using their payment system. They're just muscling in on the transaction because nothing but governmental intervention can stop them from doing so.

The sooner all consumers can have the option to use a 3rd-party store on iOS, the better.

I didn’t know this was happening. Gross.

I wish I didn’t like apple products so much. The company itself makes me ill.

 

[Force11111]

my favorite part is how they investigated. Then went well not this time so we will change the law so we can get them next time. I would even believe what was found in this investigation influenced the new law.

governments are just like corporations and change laws, rules, and regulations to suit the situation.

Of course they do. If situations become abusive it requires new laws.

Why is his so hard for some to understand?

 

[wbeasley]

I didn’t know this was happening. Gross.

I wish I didn’t like apple products so much. The company itself makes me ill.

must make you sick to the core knowing some low paid, horrendous hours per week person in China is making all the tech (any brand) that you use...

or a miner is digging up poison without PPE or union rights...

the world isnt a very nice place when we exploit other humans while chasing profits.