phillyfanatic09

Again, the EU is saying Apple needs to allow competitors free access to its technology and platform. At fines of a billion dollars a day, Apple would be better off abandoning the EU market. At tough pill but the EU seems determined to have a PC style market for smart phones where all manufacturers pretty much offer the same devices and services and there’s little innovation or profit.

VictorMortimer said:

I'm looking forward to the MASSIVE fines.

Apple can alway withdraw COMPLETELY from the EU. And why wouldn’t they if the fines consume all the profits of doing business there? 

michelb76 said:

The EU accounts for a quarter of worldwide sales. It will come to the EU at some point. 

Probably. But Apple will sell iPhones in the EU even without AI. The EU’s habit of issuing massive fines doesn’t help either. So what if a quarter of your sales are in the EU if the fines add up to the point that Apple isn’t making money there. 

Companies make rational choices based on the environment they do business in. Apple has to comply with local regulations and laws and if that means some features or products aren’t available because of those regulations/laws, so be it.

Europe has been very protectionist, especially of Spotify, which is why we see the tone of some the comments. It’s not really surprising to see Apple react.

Big tech is mostly American and so is an easy target for European regulators. In the end, companies like Apple have to decide if it’s worth doing business in the EU at all. Normally that would be a ridiculous thought but if fines approach annual world wide profits - which they could easily do under current EU laws, there’s really no point in being there. Let the EU come up with their own Apple.