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Related to this - If European IT companies continue to lose against their bigger US competitors, the Europeans will start protecting themselves. Indeed this is

by sbt 11y ago

Related to this - If European IT companies continue to lose against their bigger US competitors, the Europeans will start protecting themselves. Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting (remember Obama said "they can't compete"). Spotify and SoundCloud are some of the European IT stories at the moment, if they are both slaughtered by Apple, that will not go well for trade negotiations. Additionally, like the Chinese, Europeans are getting increasingly weary of reliance of US made hardware. Upshot: Spotify and SoundCloud failing will give more fuel to EU protectionists and will in the long run curb the reach of US tech multinationals.

csvan 11y ago
"Continue to lose" Really. "Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting" No. Read up on what anti-trust laws are. The US has them too. "Additionally, like the Chinese, Europeans are getting increasingly weary of reliance of US made hardware" The NSA tinkering with certain US-made hardware is not really helping sales.
rehtona 11y ago
The US and China both have the "unfair" advantage of a big homogenous market. I think that's the main reason you don't see a Microsoft, Google or Facebook in Europe. For example Spotify, headquartered in Stockholm, initially had a domestic market of 9 million people. Spotify is growing fast, but again, not enough engineers would move to Stockholm to sustain a Google. There's a language and culture barrier between EU countries that just don't exist in the US.
- sbt 11y ago
  Yes. I happen to think Europe actually has somewhat better human capital than the US, though the US has a clear institutional advantage (more homogeneous market, different politics, etc.) which trumps everything else. I was once a part of a medium sized European start-up that was bought by a large US company. Even though everyone got rich off the acquisition, we came to view this as a failure. If we didn't agree to be bought, we knew we would be out spent/marketed by the much larger (though much more clumsy) US company. At the end of the day, the Europeans will not consign themselves to US dominance (and the Chinese certainly won't). The EU moves slowly, but there are clear signs the past few years that it is moving to curb US tech multinationals in order to nurture domestic alternatives. While I support free trade in principle, I think this is a good development for Europe.
  - kryptiskt 11y ago
    Sure, the EU could get all huffy, but starting a trade war over that when they are a huge net exporter to the US would be extremely stupid. Maybe even too stupid for them.
Oletros 11y ago
> Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting (remember Obama said "they can't compete"). Perhaps you have to look at the outcome of the proceedings of the last ten years and you will see that this is wrong
Nemcue 11y ago
"Spotify and SoundCloud are some of the European IT stories at the moment, if they are both slaughtered by Apple, that will not go well for trade negotiations." Oh please, like anyone doing trade negotiations would give a shit. Do you think those people have even heard about soundcloud? They haven't.

by sbt 11y ago

csvan 11y ago

"Continue to lose" Really. "Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting" No. Read up on what anti-trust laws are. The US has them too. "Additionally, like the Chinese, Europeans are getting increasingly weary of reliance of US made hardware" The NSA tinkering with certain US-made hardware is not really helping sales.

rehtona 11y ago

The US and China both have the "unfair" advantage of a big homogenous market. I think that's the main reason you don't see a Microsoft, Google or Facebook in Europe. For example Spotify, headquartered in Stockholm, initially had a domestic market of 9 million people. Spotify is growing fast, but again, not enough engineers would move to Stockholm to sustain a Google. There's a language and culture barrier between EU countries that just don't exist in the US.

sbt 11y ago
Yes. I happen to think Europe actually has somewhat better human capital than the US, though the US has a clear institutional advantage (more homogeneous market, different politics, etc.) which trumps everything else. I was once a part of a medium sized European start-up that was bought by a large US company. Even though everyone got rich off the acquisition, we came to view this as a failure. If we didn't agree to be bought, we knew we would be out spent/marketed by the much larger (though much more clumsy) US company. At the end of the day, the Europeans will not consign themselves to US dominance (and the Chinese certainly won't). The EU moves slowly, but there are clear signs the past few years that it is moving to curb US tech multinationals in order to nurture domestic alternatives. While I support free trade in principle, I think this is a good development for Europe.
- kryptiskt 11y ago
  Sure, the EU could get all huffy, but starting a trade war over that when they are a huge net exporter to the US would be extremely stupid. Maybe even too stupid for them.

Oletros 11y ago

> Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting (remember Obama said "they can't compete"). Perhaps you have to look at the outcome of the proceedings of the last ten years and you will see that this is wrong

Nemcue 11y ago

"Spotify and SoundCloud are some of the European IT stories at the moment, if they are both slaughtered by Apple, that will not go well for trade negotiations." Oh please, like anyone doing trade negotiations would give a shit. Do you think those people have even heard about soundcloud? They haven't.