4 ms·

> Apple hasn’t pulled the Withings apps from the App Store yet but it probably wouldn’t hurt to download them if you think you will need them…just in case. Pul

> Apple hasn’t pulled the Withings apps from the App Store yet but it probably wouldn’t hurt to download them if you think you will need them…just in case. Pulling the app from the app store strikes me as a whole different ballgame from removing the product from the apple store. Seems like that would cross a line from fairly normal tactics into essentially bricking devices for a large segment of customers.

matco11 10y ago
Technically, it would not brick the devices, because installed apps would continue to work. Only new installations for newly purchased devices would not be possible. Nevertheless, I would agree it would be a stronger/harsher manouver by Apple. Would it be a proportionate action to what Nokia is/has been doing? Well, maybe. Reading about Apple's side of the story, it seems Nokia has already crossed more than one line into harsh/unfair legal/business tactics. ...So, certainly it's hard to predict what Apple is going to do. The interesting thing here is that if you assume that Withings is making $50-60mm/year in revenues (my guess - based on the $192mm sale price earlier this year on one side, and the estimated number of app downloads and the price of their devices), spread across so many devices, they are probably little/not profitable and little/not cash-flow generating. So, if the assumption above is correct, Withings would be a small/insignificant casualty for the Nokia side, in the context of this patents war, where much bigger money is at stake.
- jdpedrie 10y ago
  > Only new installations for newly purchased devices would not be possible. That's a good point, and definitely true. That is probably even worse for Nokia though. If existing users can continue relatively unaffected, but new customers are essentially out of luck, the platform is totally choked off from any growth. Without the app, I don't see how they could do anything other than stop selling the product. I'm not familiar with the particulars of the dispute between Apple and Nokia, but it's pretty scary how wide ranging the collateral damage from this sort of thing could be.
  - msabalau 10y ago
    "totally choked off from growth" among iPhone users--other smartphones exist.
    - st3v3r 10y ago
      They do, but the iPhone is one of the prime user bases of this kinda thing.
mamp 10y ago
Apple did not pull Bose apps from the App Store when they pulled their products from the Apple Stores during their dispute. Hasn't happened.
simonh 10y ago
That would be counterproductive because it would punish customers, but not actually punish Withings themselves. After all, anyone downloading the app has presumably already bought a Withings device. So Apple could only get grief for doing this without getting any benefit.
audeyisaacs 10y ago
Surely even the possibility of this happening being talked about in the press materially damages Nokia's business. Really hope the users' right to install software on their device gets regulated soon...
- philipov 10y ago
  When the user's right to install software gets regulated, odds are it will be to formally remove that right. That kind of right is incompatible with big copyright holders' desire to completely control the life cycle of their content.

matco11 10y ago

Technically, it would not brick the devices, because installed apps would continue to work. Only new installations for newly purchased devices would not be possible. Nevertheless, I would agree it would be a stronger/harsher manouver by Apple. Would it be a proportionate action to what Nokia is/has been doing? Well, maybe. Reading about Apple's side of the story, it seems Nokia has already crossed more than one line into harsh/unfair legal/business tactics. ...So, certainly it's hard to predict what Apple is going to do. The interesting thing here is that if you assume that Withings is making $50-60mm/year in revenues (my guess - based on the $192mm sale price earlier this year on one side, and the estimated number of app downloads and the price of their devices), spread across so many devices, they are probably little/not profitable and little/not cash-flow generating. So, if the assumption above is correct, Withings would be a small/insignificant casualty for the Nokia side, in the context of this patents war, where much bigger money is at stake.

jdpedrie 10y ago
> Only new installations for newly purchased devices would not be possible. That's a good point, and definitely true. That is probably even worse for Nokia though. If existing users can continue relatively unaffected, but new customers are essentially out of luck, the platform is totally choked off from any growth. Without the app, I don't see how they could do anything other than stop selling the product. I'm not familiar with the particulars of the dispute between Apple and Nokia, but it's pretty scary how wide ranging the collateral damage from this sort of thing could be.
- msabalau 10y ago
  "totally choked off from growth" among iPhone users--other smartphones exist.
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    They do, but the iPhone is one of the prime user bases of this kinda thing.

mamp 10y ago

Apple did not pull Bose apps from the App Store when they pulled their products from the Apple Stores during their dispute. Hasn't happened.

simonh 10y ago

That would be counterproductive because it would punish customers, but not actually punish Withings themselves. After all, anyone downloading the app has presumably already bought a Withings device. So Apple could only get grief for doing this without getting any benefit.

audeyisaacs 10y ago

Surely even the possibility of this happening being talked about in the press materially damages Nokia's business. Really hope the users' right to install software on their device gets regulated soon...

philipov 10y ago
When the user's right to install software gets regulated, odds are it will be to formally remove that right. That kind of right is incompatible with big copyright holders' desire to completely control the life cycle of their content.