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The UK has a relatively strong chance of creating decent competitive challengers to Apple if the UK market opens up with their exit. Even if a few consumers are
by benjaminjosephw 5y ago
The UK has a relatively strong chance of creating decent competitive challengers to Apple if the UK market opens up with their exit. Even if a few consumers are frustrated in the short term this could lead to a fantastic outcome for a competitive consumer marketplace over the long-term.
- Zenst 5y agoReading https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/apple-app-store-was-a-major-source-of-uk-jobs-and-income-last-year https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/apple-app-store-was-a-majo... I'd say it is not so much the consumers that would be impacted by such a hissy fit that Apple has mooted.
- sdflhasjd 5y agoOf course, that's a claim from Apple in response claims of anticompetitive behaviour. I find it difficult to believe, as a mobile developer myself, that 330,000 jobs are being supported by the App Store in any meaningful way.
- ben_w 5y agoSounds about right to me. Fermi estimate: apps-not-abandoned * average-developers-per-app-this-year ~> 2 million apps * 2 developer-months ~> 333,000 developers
- sdflhasjd 5y agoUK jobs. I know "meaningful" isn't well-defined, but more than 1% of the entire UK workforce is not dependent on the App Store (that couldn't be replaced by any other app marketplace)
- ben_w 5y agoAh, I missed that. That does make a difference, and I could only justify it in the unlikely event of a decent percentage of those apps being for businesses specifically dependent on iOS apps in particular rather than mobile phones and websites in general.
- moshiv 5y agoIt will never happen. Just have to count the number of iphones and macs in the hands of people with power.
- paulcole 5y agoAlso it’s a nearly free victory to anybody challenging the incumbents in power at the time. Imagine being one of the people on duty when Apple (a hugely popular consumer brand) pulls out of your country. Hard to explain that one to the constituency and come out looking good.
- bb101 5y agoWe'd have new legislation within a week targeting patent trolls. I can't imagine anything that'd make a government more unpopular than taking away everyone's iPhones, iPads and Macs.
- deregulateMed 5y agoYeah Apple has a far bigger marketing budget than any politician. A politician could be correct that 1+1=2, but Apple will twist your emotions until you cave. Or at least that works on some people.
- LightG 5y agoPlease allow me a hearty, LOOOOOOOL. And I'm not really a fan of Apple either, but still.
- arcturus17 5y agoI don’t know about your politics, but regardless, “the UK will be able to build an Apple competitor” sounds like a level 99 brexiteer delusion.
- benjaminjosephw 5y agoImagining a change in the tech landscape isn't that absurd. If there's a vacuum in the market, do you not think there are capable technology startups in the UK that could fill it?
- ben_w 5y agoI expect any change in the marketplace that a startup could fill is one where Apple is already non-dominant, and therefore not preventing a vacuum by occupying. Worse, in the hypothetical where Apple left the UK in order to not be bound by a UK-specific IP infringement judgment, Apple would be have greater liberty to just fire up the metaphorical photocopier.
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- bencollier49 5y agoWe have tons of opportunities in the UK to build a mobile firm. ARM is based here, for starters. Unfortunately with Brexit it has become fashionable in certain quarters to 'do-down' the UK's capabilities.
- arcturus17 5y agoLike I said in another comment, the high-end consumer mobile market outside of Apple is a red ocean and I seriously doubt the UK would be able to build a global scale corporation commanding ludicrous margins like Apple. > with Brexit it has become fashionable in certain quarters to 'do-down' the UK's capabilities It has also certainly become fashionable in other quarters to 'do-up' the UK's capabilities. I don't deny that the UK has technological clout beyond digital, with excellent universities, a great tradition in science and engineering, and a global hub in London. But a competitor to Apple? Come on.
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- wccrawford 5y agoIt would create quite a power vacuum, and it would scare people in other countries as well. But I'm not convinced that it would cause a new competitor to exist. I think it's more likely that existing companies will eat up that market instead, and I don't think there are any UK companies poised to take over that market segment.
- jowsie 5y agoPeople will simply import iPhones from elsewhere, or buy Samsungs instead.
- PeterisP 5y ago"People will simply import iPhones from elsewhere" is not an option - if there's a patent decision, then it would also mean that imports are a patent violation, all iPhones would have to be seized at the customs. Not-for sale items in personal luggage might be exempt, but bringing a new iPhone in a box for someone else would literally be contraband in this situation.
- Nasrudith 5y agoWell yes but smuggling is a very old occupation for a reason. People won't follow a law they think is illegitimate when they feel they can get away with it. So it would work like the war on drugs. Cocaine is very common for a consumable "not an option" for importing. Hell that same circumstance of personal use is how the underground USSR blue jeans market came about!
- pjc50 5y agoFortunately the UK has an open land border with Ireland. Pop over to Belfast, train to Dublin. (Apple make €110bn profit in Ireland according to their accounts. There is no Dublin Apple Store.)