randominternetperson

nubus said:

hammeroftruth said:

One of the things that has always bothered me is that there isn’t any news about other companies like Nintendo, or Sony having proprietary hardware and not running afoul of the EU. Is that because they grease the wheels and Apple does not?

TikTok got fined €530 million this week for sending data to China. Sony €13.5 million in 2023 for abuse of dominant position and for disabling controllers for PS4. But the main fines have been on truck manufacturers (billions), snacks (Mondelēz - €338 million in 2024 and Coca-Cola just got raided), car glass (+ €700 million), and so on. Airbus, AWS, and Google are taking massive hits as well.

Some companies try to operate like EU doesn't have antitrust, anti-corruption, or privacy regulations at all. They fail miserably. Old tech like IBM... not a case in 15 years and they didn't even get fined for that. I would say it is a problem at C-suite level in some companies and Apple is on that list. It really is for Cook or the board to fix it.

To suggest that Apple simply ignores European "antitrust, anti-corruption, or privacy" regulations (why not toss in "human trafficking" while you're at it?) is ridiculous.

It is often literally impossible to comply with the letter of the law when it comes to international regulations. Or at least completely infeasible. Thus, every company has to make strategic decisions about how strictly they will try to comply with which regulations in which countries. These are often C-suite and board level decisions.

I have no reason to believe there is anything to "fix" with respect to how Apple handles this on-going challenge. It could very well be that a half billion dollar fine is the optimal outcome. I mean, sure, Apple doesn't want write a check that big, but it could well be that the expected cost of half-assed compliance was lower than the expected cost of rigorous compliance.

I will also point out that Apple is a leader in privacy, so tossing antirust and privacy in the same regulatory bucket is disingenuous. Nor have I heard of any corruptions complaints against our favorite fruit company.

Including the cost of a 3D printer into the total cost is insane. That’s like saying my groceries cost for the week cost $35,000 because I had to buy a car to get to the store. The cost of this (silly) this is a teeny bit less than the cost of a MacBook, so it’s not entirely insane. 

That scrutiny led to the CDTFA's 2023 audit. The agency concluded that tax revenue from Apple's online transactions should be distributed across the state based on where purchases were actually made or delivered -- not where the company is headquartered.

So, why is the money refunded to Apple, and not those other municipalities across the state?

libertyandfree said:

9secondkox2 said:

As I said a long time ago, intelligent people are in charge snd apple will be ok. The president will have a way to navigate Apple through some difficult decidd add jobs. And it has come to pass. 

Cook was wise to open the door of discussion dnd thr president has been wise in response. 

I know it’s popular in this particular online space to detract from the president no matter what he does, but the fact is tarriffs are necessary -yet it’s sldd add o necessary to protect Americans and American companies. The idea is to put the pressure on other countries, particularly China - and not on American companies. 

It’s not changing mindset. It’s continuing forward motion, msnuevering as needed. That’s only good stuff snd Apple is the better for it. As this year marks time for my iPhone upgrade and early next is my next Mac purchase, I am a pretty happy potential customer right about now. 

 Well said.  Most people do not comprehend what is going on with the tariff machinations.  I have said all along Trump will not harm Apple and other significant US companies. He is using very hard nosed and sometimes reckless tactics to get to his end goal.  

Yes, so well said. It's like poetry.

But remind us what "his end goal" is.

AppleInsider said:

Cook was once described by Steve Jobs as not being a "product person," but he's unquestionably a politician. He apparently kept the working relationship going with Trump before the last election, and he is confirmed to have personally donated $1 million to the president's inauguration.

I'll do more than question it, I'll flat out assert that he is not a politician.

Politicians (at least when the term is used pejoratively, as it seems to here) don't stand for anything, say whatever they need to say, and shift with the slightest breeze.

That isn't Tim Cook. Exhibit 1: https://www.apple.com/diversity/ ;

Perhaps we can agree that he is politically astute, but that doesn't make him a politician.