4 ms·

I wonder what the thinking is with this argument. Make the EU come up with an argument that they need to open the apple watch and apple TV to third party app st

I wonder what the thinking is with this argument. Make the EU come up with an argument that they need to open the apple watch and apple TV to third party app stores too because that seems more silly? Or are they just trying to split it up so iphone numbers are smaller? Or do they hope that they end up with a precedent that they can apply to all their devices instead of just one?

guitarbill 3y ago
Android is quite a bit more popular than iPhones in the EU (roughly 66% vs 33%). And the iPhone app store is likely the most lucrative one for Apple. So it makes sense to try and isolate it. It will be interesting to see how the iPad affects this. I'm not sure about the wearable/smartwatch market. That could be more skewed towards Apple Watch. Doubt anybody cares about Apple TV. macOS store is likely exempt as - for now - Macs can install software from anywhere.
turquoisevar 3y ago
The long and short of it is that the EU, in determining the gatekeepers, looked at the monthly active users for each store separately on the premise that each OS (i.e., iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS) is separate from each other with its own constraints, functionality, and purpose. The EU then realized that the only App Store that meets the monthly active user threshold is the iOS App Store (and maybe iPadOS, I am not 100% sure as I write this, the preliminary findings were a while back), which wasn’t desirable for the EU as they want to regulate as much as possible. Hence, the EU basically said: “fuck it, we’ll treat them all as one; the DMA is written vague enough that we can get away with this.” Apple is now appealing this finding and echoed the EU’s original stance that these are to be considered separate, with each their own monthly active user threshold to meet.

4 ms·

I wonder what the thinking is with this argument. Make the EU come up with an argument that they need to open the apple watch and apple TV to third party app st

by 6gvONxR4sf7o 3y ago

guitarbill 3y ago
Android is quite a bit more popular than iPhones in the EU (roughly 66% vs 33%). And the iPhone app store is likely the most lucrative one for Apple. So it makes sense to try and isolate it. It will be interesting to see how the iPad affects this. I'm not sure about the wearable/smartwatch market. That could be more skewed towards Apple Watch. Doubt anybody cares about Apple TV. macOS store is likely exempt as - for now - Macs can install software from anywhere.
turquoisevar 3y ago
The long and short of it is that the EU, in determining the gatekeepers, looked at the monthly active users for each store separately on the premise that each OS (i.e., iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS) is separate from each other with its own constraints, functionality, and purpose. The EU then realized that the only App Store that meets the monthly active user threshold is the iOS App Store (and maybe iPadOS, I am not 100% sure as I write this, the preliminary findings were a while back), which wasn’t desirable for the EU as they want to regulate as much as possible. Hence, the EU basically said: “fuck it, we’ll treat them all as one; the DMA is written vague enough that we can get away with this.” Apple is now appealing this finding and echoed the EU’s original stance that these are to be considered separate, with each their own monthly active user threshold to meet.