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They are really asking to have the App Store regulated, aren’t they. It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs, and they’re already making plenty of cas

They are really asking to have the App Store regulated, aren’t they. It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs, and they’re already making plenty of cash and market share. Why stir the pot and give regulators even more ammunition?

Cupprum 4y ago
I think that at this point they know that in future, app store will be regulated. Thats why they have these offensive policies targeted towards specific companies. Earn now as much as possible from this, while its still possible.
- three_seagrass 4y ago
  Depending on which products get flagged as a core platform service by the European Commission, the digital markets act (DMA) may already be hitting them. It only affects EU users though.
  - supermatt 4y ago
    From May 2023.
simion314 4y ago
> Why stir the pot and give regulators even more ammunition? Probably if they make more profit then X then the bosses on top get a GIANT bonus. If profits don't grow but are still profitable the bonus will be smaller, and we all know this guys want a bigger yacht or sport car each year. If in 5-10 years Apple will not be good for bonuses they management retire or move to the next place.
zamalek 4y ago
Yeah. As much as I prefer the ethics of Apple to Facebook, and as much as I would like Facebook to go away, this isn't good behavior from Apple.
rhema 4y ago
They do have the Oculus store. It's not a competitor yet, but may be in 10 years.
- whywhywhywhy 4y ago
  I'm convinced Zuck wakes up every morning screaming because he didn't start making a phone when Google/Apple did and just trusted that being a platform on top of every phone was more important, never realizing the foundations would eventually shift this much.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    FB tried. In 2013 they collaborated with HTC on an FB branded phone, which was ill fated: https://www.lifewire.com/whatever-happened-to-the-facebook-phone-5081980 https://www.lifewire.com/whatever-happened-to-the-facebook-p...
    - Kon-Peki 4y ago
      Apple collaborated with Motorola on an iTunes phone, which was very much ill-fated. I remember seeing it before launch at a rooftop party in Chicago. The Motorola engineer said “it’s going to suck, Apple made us cripple it”. Apple learned; I guess FB gave up.
      - whywhywhywhy 4y ago
        Exactly the point. Many people will lesser vision would have given up at the Motorola Rokr too and just focus on iPod. The lesson wasn’t “this doesn’t work” the lesson was “we need to control this completely for it to work” Also for a laugh watch Jobs demoing the Rokr on stage, you’ll see him visibly get frustrated with the UI. IIRC.
        Kon-Peki 4y ago
        I think that one major difference is that the iPhone supported an "easy" way to do software updates, which was never a thing prior to smartphones. Remember that the iPhone wasn't really that good at launch, either. No copy/paste, no App Store, etc. There is a scene in the movie Sex and the City, which was filmed pre-launch (right?). One character hands an iPhone to the other, who looks at it for a few seconds and says something along the lines of "I don't know how to use this" and hands it back.
chrisseaton 4y ago
> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs If Facebook is not a competitor then there's no issue is there? The regulator would step in if there were unfair competition. If they're not competing then there can't be any unfair competition.
- eddieroger 4y ago
  We're not bothered by the actual facts of the situation. This is a pitchfork sharpening contest. /s Sarcasm aside, if Apple isn't competing, and charges all social media services for the boost, what is unfair?
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    They closed a loophole that Facebook was exploiting, this is clearly a grave injustice (also Facebook already has another loophole they can exploit that mostly covers it).
2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
The tech giants are having a shootout because of market pressure. Apple is willing to take on greater antitrust risk for revenue now rather than later. I'm eagerly awaiting their earnings call.
concinds 4y ago
> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs Apple's about to launch a new virtual reality headset in just over 2 months, that'll directly compete with Facebook.[0] Facebook's product, unlike pre-iPhone smartphones, is very decent, and Apple seems to target a high price, so the competition will likely be fierce. [0]: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/04/apple-reality-pro-to-be-first-of-three-headsets/ https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/04/apple-reality-pro-to-be...
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  Could be a competitor in a future possibly-irrelevant product line is a far cry from being a competitor.
  - concinds 4y ago
    2 months is hardly far into the future, and no Apple analyst would agree that it's irrelevant. People expect it to be bigger than Apple Watch, and to eventually supplant both computers and phones.
    - bagels 4y ago
      Vr headsets are not replacing phones this year.
      - andsoitis 4y ago
        Or in the next 10.
        cercatrova 4y ago
        I wonder if someone would have said the same thing about pocket computers in 1997.
        mrguyorama 4y ago
        They would have been mostly right. The iPhone didn't come out until like 2007, and handheld computers before that were pretty niche
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
manuelabeledo 4y ago
> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs In a way, yes: both are competing for ad dollars in the iOS space. If Facebook is forced to slow down or increase ad prices, those are dollars that may end up in Apple ad network, if the customer is targeting iOS users.
rahoulb 4y ago
I’ve just finished “After Steve” by Tripp Mickle and it strikes me as a good interpretation of the last 10 years at Apple strategically. - Apple was pretty much dead when Steve Jobs came back but he rescued it through a string of great products (iMac, iPod, OSX Macs, iPhone and iPad) - When Tim Cook succeeded Steve he knew he wasn’t a product person so Jony Ive took on that role - Thanks to (mainly) the iPhone Apple stock started climbing and more and more investors started taking an interest in the company - The iPhone 6 and 6S were the turning point - the 6 sending the stock through the roof and the 6S crashing it. As far as investors are concerned, the trouble with product companies are that you’re only one quarter away from disaster - Ive struggled with his grief over losing Jobs, plus the weight of being the company figurehead without Jobs to shield him and gradually withdrew from Apple - Acquiring Beats and launching Apple Music, plus the revenue from the ever growing App Store offered Tim Cook a way out, in the eyes of investors. - Apple changed their strategy to become a services company that values recurring revenue rather than one reliant on continuing product innovation. Cook was quite explicit about this but it’s taken a few years for the shift from products company to services to become apparent.
- lapcat 4y ago
  > Apple changed their strategy to become a services company that values recurring revenue rather than one reliant on continuing product innovation. Apple's hardware revenue, both in general and in specific categories such as iPhone, Mac, and iPad, is higher now than ever before. Plus now they have Watch, AirPods, etc. Apple is pursuing "services" revenue simply because it can. It's a supplement for hardware revenue, not a replacement. It's easy money, because customers are locked in. The margins on "services" revenue are practically obscene.
  - onelovetwo 4y ago
    > Apple's hardware revenue, both in general and in specific categories such as iPhone, Mac, and iPad, is higher now than ever before. Plus now they have Watch, AirPods, etc. If you look at the trajectory of iPhone sales (others devices barely matter), its reaching a peak. As are smartphone sales in general.
pornel 4y ago
Growth. Stock market incentivizes growing forever, and currently they're focusing on growing "Services" revenue.
bmitc 4y ago
I think Apple's perspective is that they do what they want and tell and pay people (i.e., lobbyists, regulators, and politicians) to say that they don't want it regulated. They have unbelievable market power.

Cupprum 4y ago

I think that at this point they know that in future, app store will be regulated. Thats why they have these offensive policies targeted towards specific companies. Earn now as much as possible from this, while its still possible.

three_seagrass 4y ago
Depending on which products get flagged as a core platform service by the European Commission, the digital markets act (DMA) may already be hitting them. It only affects EU users though.
- supermatt 4y ago
  From May 2023.

simion314 4y ago

> Why stir the pot and give regulators even more ammunition? Probably if they make more profit then X then the bosses on top get a GIANT bonus. If profits don't grow but are still profitable the bonus will be smaller, and we all know this guys want a bigger yacht or sport car each year. If in 5-10 years Apple will not be good for bonuses they management retire or move to the next place.

zamalek 4y ago

Yeah. As much as I prefer the ethics of Apple to Facebook, and as much as I would like Facebook to go away, this isn't good behavior from Apple.

rhema 4y ago

They do have the Oculus store. It's not a competitor yet, but may be in 10 years.

whywhywhywhy 4y ago
I'm convinced Zuck wakes up every morning screaming because he didn't start making a phone when Google/Apple did and just trusted that being a platform on top of every phone was more important, never realizing the foundations would eventually shift this much.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  FB tried. In 2013 they collaborated with HTC on an FB branded phone, which was ill fated: https://www.lifewire.com/whatever-happened-to-the-facebook-phone-5081980 https://www.lifewire.com/whatever-happened-to-the-facebook-p...
  - Kon-Peki 4y ago
    Apple collaborated with Motorola on an iTunes phone, which was very much ill-fated. I remember seeing it before launch at a rooftop party in Chicago. The Motorola engineer said “it’s going to suck, Apple made us cripple it”. Apple learned; I guess FB gave up.
    - whywhywhywhy 4y ago
      Exactly the point. Many people will lesser vision would have given up at the Motorola Rokr too and just focus on iPod. The lesson wasn’t “this doesn’t work” the lesson was “we need to control this completely for it to work” Also for a laugh watch Jobs demoing the Rokr on stage, you’ll see him visibly get frustrated with the UI. IIRC.
      - Kon-Peki 4y ago
        I think that one major difference is that the iPhone supported an "easy" way to do software updates, which was never a thing prior to smartphones. Remember that the iPhone wasn't really that good at launch, either. No copy/paste, no App Store, etc. There is a scene in the movie Sex and the City, which was filmed pre-launch (right?). One character hands an iPhone to the other, who looks at it for a few seconds and says something along the lines of "I don't know how to use this" and hands it back.

chrisseaton 4y ago

> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs If Facebook is not a competitor then there's no issue is there? The regulator would step in if there were unfair competition. If they're not competing then there can't be any unfair competition.

eddieroger 4y ago
We're not bothered by the actual facts of the situation. This is a pitchfork sharpening contest. /s Sarcasm aside, if Apple isn't competing, and charges all social media services for the boost, what is unfair?
- bee_rider 4y ago
  They closed a loophole that Facebook was exploiting, this is clearly a grave injustice (also Facebook already has another loophole they can exploit that mostly covers it).

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

The tech giants are having a shootout because of market pressure. Apple is willing to take on greater antitrust risk for revenue now rather than later. I'm eagerly awaiting their earnings call.

concinds 4y ago

> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs Apple's about to launch a new virtual reality headset in just over 2 months, that'll directly compete with Facebook.[0] Facebook's product, unlike pre-iPhone smartphones, is very decent, and Apple seems to target a high price, so the competition will likely be fierce. [0]: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/04/apple-reality-pro-to-be-first-of-three-headsets/ https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/04/apple-reality-pro-to-be...

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
Could be a competitor in a future possibly-irrelevant product line is a far cry from being a competitor.
- concinds 4y ago
  2 months is hardly far into the future, and no Apple analyst would agree that it's irrelevant. People expect it to be bigger than Apple Watch, and to eventually supplant both computers and phones.
  - bagels 4y ago
    Vr headsets are not replacing phones this year.
    - andsoitis 4y ago
      Or in the next 10.
      - cercatrova 4y ago
        I wonder if someone would have said the same thing about pocket computers in 1997.
        mrguyorama 4y ago
        They would have been mostly right. The iPhone didn't come out until like 2007, and handheld computers before that were pretty niche

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

manuelabeledo 4y ago

> It’s not like Facebook is a competitor of theirs In a way, yes: both are competing for ad dollars in the iOS space. If Facebook is forced to slow down or increase ad prices, those are dollars that may end up in Apple ad network, if the customer is targeting iOS users.

rahoulb 4y ago

I’ve just finished “After Steve” by Tripp Mickle and it strikes me as a good interpretation of the last 10 years at Apple strategically. - Apple was pretty much dead when Steve Jobs came back but he rescued it through a string of great products (iMac, iPod, OSX Macs, iPhone and iPad) - When Tim Cook succeeded Steve he knew he wasn’t a product person so Jony Ive took on that role - Thanks to (mainly) the iPhone Apple stock started climbing and more and more investors started taking an interest in the company - The iPhone 6 and 6S were the turning point - the 6 sending the stock through the roof and the 6S crashing it. As far as investors are concerned, the trouble with product companies are that you’re only one quarter away from disaster - Ive struggled with his grief over losing Jobs, plus the weight of being the company figurehead without Jobs to shield him and gradually withdrew from Apple - Acquiring Beats and launching Apple Music, plus the revenue from the ever growing App Store offered Tim Cook a way out, in the eyes of investors. - Apple changed their strategy to become a services company that values recurring revenue rather than one reliant on continuing product innovation. Cook was quite explicit about this but it’s taken a few years for the shift from products company to services to become apparent.

lapcat 4y ago
> Apple changed their strategy to become a services company that values recurring revenue rather than one reliant on continuing product innovation. Apple's hardware revenue, both in general and in specific categories such as iPhone, Mac, and iPad, is higher now than ever before. Plus now they have Watch, AirPods, etc. Apple is pursuing "services" revenue simply because it can. It's a supplement for hardware revenue, not a replacement. It's easy money, because customers are locked in. The margins on "services" revenue are practically obscene.
- onelovetwo 4y ago
  > Apple's hardware revenue, both in general and in specific categories such as iPhone, Mac, and iPad, is higher now than ever before. Plus now they have Watch, AirPods, etc. If you look at the trajectory of iPhone sales (others devices barely matter), its reaching a peak. As are smartphone sales in general.

pornel 4y ago

Growth. Stock market incentivizes growing forever, and currently they're focusing on growing "Services" revenue.

bmitc 4y ago

I think Apple's perspective is that they do what they want and tell and pay people (i.e., lobbyists, regulators, and politicians) to say that they don't want it regulated. They have unbelievable market power.