Falling Apples: So Many to Harvest and Sell to Pay the EU
June 25, 2024
This essay is the work of a dinobaby. Unlike some folks, no smart software improved my native ineptness.
What’s goes up seems to come down. Apple is peeling back on the weird headset gizmo. The company’s AI response — despite the thrills Apple Intelligence produced in some acolytes — is “to be” AI or vaporware. China dependence remains a sticky wicket. And if the information in “Apple Has Very Serious Issues Under Sweeping EU Digital Rules, Competition Chief Says,” the happy giant in Cupertino will be writing some Jupiter-sized checks. Imagine. Pesky Europeans are asserting that Apple has a monopoly and has been acting less like Johnny Appleseed and more like Andrew Carnegie.
A powerful force causes Tim Apple to wonder why so many objects are falling on his head. Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Good enough.
The write up says:
… regulators are preparing charges against the iPhone maker. In March [2024], the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, opened a probe into Apple, Alphabet and Meta, under the sweeping Digital Markets Act tech legislation that became applicable this year. The investigation featured several concerns about Apple, including whether the tech giant is blocking businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for products or about subscriptions outside of the App Store.
Would Apple, the flag bearer for almost-impossible to repaid products and software that just won’t charge laptop batteries no matter what the user needs to do prior to a long airplane flight prevent the free flow of information?
The EU nit pickers believe that Apple’s principles and policies are a “serious issue.”
How much money is possibly involved if the EU finds Apple a — pardon the pun — a bad apple in a barrel of rotten US high technology companies? The write up says:
If it is found in breach of Digital Markets Act rules, Apple could face fines of up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover.
For FY2023, Apple captured about $380 billion, this works out to a potential payday for the EU of about US$ 38 billion and change.
Speaking of change, will a big fine cause those Apples to levitate? Nope.
Stephen E Arnold, June 25, 2024
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