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The cynic in me would imagine that Apple loves this. They found the perfect enemy to throw under the bus, just in time for the EU’s review of what interoperabil

The cynic in me would imagine that Apple loves this. They found the perfect enemy to throw under the bus, just in time for the EU’s review of what interoperability means for the iPhone. Meta is probably the most hated big tech company by the EU. On the other hand, I’m sure Apple hates this. Being told they have to share and cooperate is not something they’re familiar with. The EU really is twisting the screws for DMA. I wonder if any of the big companies will pull out of the EU over DMA or future legislation. It seems each of the big tech companies have started to get a grumpy with being pushed to make crazy changes by the EU.

onemoresoop 2y ago
Pipe dreams but I wish meta pulled out altogether. They’re such a toxic company that adds less than if takes from the world.
cj 2y ago
> I wonder if any of the big companies will pull out of the EU over DMA or future legislation. It seems each of the big tech companies have started to get a grumpy with being pushed to make crazy changes by the EU. Luckily we don’t need to guess because the equation is simple. Does the risk/reward increase or decrease shareholder value. EU regulators know this, too. To date the equation has balanced out. The biggest risk is where the EU forces big tech in ways that impact their non-EU business. I think the equation changes if things boil over to a point where complying with EU law threatens their business outside of the EU.
- kranke155 2y ago
  Vimeo didnt completely pull out of the EU, but it removed most of the functionality. They havent clarified what law, but they said it was due to legislation and cost of compliance.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
maeil 2y ago
> I wonder if any of the big companies will pull out of the EU over DMA or future legislation. I've said this here before - no chance. Shareholders would be taking them to the cleaners. Europe is responsible for >20% of Apple's revenue. Look at how many companies are willing to kill people for a few % extra, let alone as much as 20%. I don't think there's any where the EU counts for <10%, maybe X if you still count that as a big one.
- vineyardmike 2y ago
  In Apple’s earnings reports, “Europe” also includes… non EU European states, many of which are/were high income nations (UK, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, etc) as well as the entire middle-east. This is apple’s own explanations. The European Union itself is certainly closer to 10% than >20%. Their CFO said that EU accounted for 7% of the App Store, but hasn’t explicitly mentioned global revenue percent.
  - maeil 2y ago
    Russia, Turkey and Ukraine? Come on now. The UK's privacy regulations for one are about as strict as the EU's and has passed its own version of the DMA. The App Store revenue is only one part of Apple, where the US is particularly overrepresented. I looked at their financials a few months ago and the last time they gave regional data Europe counted for more than 20%.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    If Apple wanted to leave the European Union, their boat left months ago when they were forced to pay their back taxes in Ireland. Now that they're paid up on their dues, it would probably cost Apple more money than it's worth to leave the European economic zone.
rsynnott 2y ago
I mean, see also https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-monoply-news-updates https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-mono... In 2023, Apple made 162bn in the US, 94bn in Europe (presumably mostly-EU), 72b in China, 24bn in Japan, 29bn in rest of APAC, the rest negligible. Abandoning their second-largest region, only to find their largest region going after them, albeit with more limited tools, for the same thing, would be an... interesting move. Their third-largest region is also not exactly what you'd call libertarians.
- vineyardmike 2y ago
  > 94bn in Europe (presumably mostly-EU) I think that's a big assumption. The iPhone doesn't have a particularly large market share in the EU, it's just not that popular. "Europe" also includes other nations and regions, eg. the UK and the Middle East. Many of those nations also feature the iPhone having a large market share, despite them potentially being a "poorer" nation. The UK, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc all have larger iPhone penetration in their population. The UK + Russia + Saudi have a similar collective population to Germany, France, and Italy, but each also feature a higher iPhone usage per capita than the EU. So I think it stands to reason that the EU probably features heavily in that number, but is certainly closer to half of it.

onemoresoop 2y ago

Pipe dreams but I wish meta pulled out altogether. They’re such a toxic company that adds less than if takes from the world.

cj 2y ago

> I wonder if any of the big companies will pull out of the EU over DMA or future legislation. It seems each of the big tech companies have started to get a grumpy with being pushed to make crazy changes by the EU. Luckily we don’t need to guess because the equation is simple. Does the risk/reward increase or decrease shareholder value. EU regulators know this, too. To date the equation has balanced out. The biggest risk is where the EU forces big tech in ways that impact their non-EU business. I think the equation changes if things boil over to a point where complying with EU law threatens their business outside of the EU.

kranke155 2y ago
Vimeo didnt completely pull out of the EU, but it removed most of the functionality. They havent clarified what law, but they said it was due to legislation and cost of compliance.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

maeil 2y ago

> I wonder if any of the big companies will pull out of the EU over DMA or future legislation. I've said this here before - no chance. Shareholders would be taking them to the cleaners. Europe is responsible for >20% of Apple's revenue. Look at how many companies are willing to kill people for a few % extra, let alone as much as 20%. I don't think there's any where the EU counts for <10%, maybe X if you still count that as a big one.

vineyardmike 2y ago
In Apple’s earnings reports, “Europe” also includes… non EU European states, many of which are/were high income nations (UK, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, etc) as well as the entire middle-east. This is apple’s own explanations. The European Union itself is certainly closer to 10% than >20%. Their CFO said that EU accounted for 7% of the App Store, but hasn’t explicitly mentioned global revenue percent.
- maeil 2y ago
  Russia, Turkey and Ukraine? Come on now. The UK's privacy regulations for one are about as strict as the EU's and has passed its own version of the DMA. The App Store revenue is only one part of Apple, where the US is particularly overrepresented. I looked at their financials a few months ago and the last time they gave regional data Europe counted for more than 20%.
- talldayo 2y ago
  If Apple wanted to leave the European Union, their boat left months ago when they were forced to pay their back taxes in Ireland. Now that they're paid up on their dues, it would probably cost Apple more money than it's worth to leave the European economic zone.

rsynnott 2y ago

I mean, see also https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-monoply-news-updates https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-mono... In 2023, Apple made 162bn in the US, 94bn in Europe (presumably mostly-EU), 72b in China, 24bn in Japan, 29bn in rest of APAC, the rest negligible. Abandoning their second-largest region, only to find their largest region going after them, albeit with more limited tools, for the same thing, would be an... interesting move. Their third-largest region is also not exactly what you'd call libertarians.

vineyardmike 2y ago
> 94bn in Europe (presumably mostly-EU) I think that's a big assumption. The iPhone doesn't have a particularly large market share in the EU, it's just not that popular. "Europe" also includes other nations and regions, eg. the UK and the Middle East. Many of those nations also feature the iPhone having a large market share, despite them potentially being a "poorer" nation. The UK, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc all have larger iPhone penetration in their population. The UK + Russia + Saudi have a similar collective population to Germany, France, and Italy, but each also feature a higher iPhone usage per capita than the EU. So I think it stands to reason that the EU probably features heavily in that number, but is certainly closer to half of it.