CloudTalkin

All that money being spent in the App Store doesn't really translate into success for Apple's own subscription apps.  Not a single one of Apple's subs appears in the Top 10 list for the App Store.  iOS users seem love some Google products though.  Appleinsider seems to have chosen not to include the other graphic from the Sense Tower source article. MR has more detailed info: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/12/app-store-top-100-subs-revenue-2020/
 

mjtomlin said:

gc_uk said:

rcfa said:

Apple couldn’t care less: everything they collect is opt-in already,

In the EU every citizen has a right to data privacy. Companies must be clear about what information they collect and why, citizens can request the data held on them and have it corrected if required.

rcfa said:

and they don’t make their money tracking people…

iAds.

Both iOS and macOS have an "Apple Advertising" section under "Privacy" preferences...

Apple Delivered Advertising
The Apple advertising platform does not track you. It is designed to protect your privacy and does not follow you across apps and websites owned by other companies. You have control over how Apple uses your information.

Ad targeting information is used by Apple to personalize your ad experience.

There's an option to turn on Personalized Ads

There's also links for more detailed information regarding Apple's privacy policy.

There's an option to turn off Personalized Ads.  As I noted above, Personalized Ads are turn on by default and you have to opt-out.  You also have to opt-out of location based ad tracking, separate from Personalized Ads.

Apple: If you don't want to receive personalized ads, you can choose to turn off the Personalized Ads setting on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and Mac. This may not decrease the number of ads you receive, but the ads may be less relevant to you. You can also turn off location-based ads on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and Mac.

rcfa said:

Apple couldn’t care less: everything they collect is opt-in already, and they don’t make their money tracking people…

There's a bit of irony in your "everything they collect is opt-in already".  We're discussing targeted advertising and contrary to your proclamation, you are by default subject to targeted ads through Apple's Personalized Ads.  You have to opt-out of Personalized Ads to avoid targeted advertising.   Oh, separately you also have to opt-out of location based targeted ads. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074 ;

There are also other areas where you have to opt-out but they aren't germane to the discussion.  Suffice it to say, everything they collect is not opt-in.

lkrupp said:

As long as it’s manufactured to Apple’s specifications and not just another Hyundai chassis with Apple’s logo and software on it I’m okay. It must be assembled in the U.S. and preferably with UAW plants and workers. That’s the only way, in my opinion, it could succeed with the general public.

Also interesting is that GM has announced they will be all electric by 2035.

1.  It won't be a badge-engineered Hyundai/Kia.  Apple is looking for a contract manufacturer like Foxconn, but for cars.  "Apple reportedly wants to source major components of its own design – frames, bodies, drive trains, and other parts – from a variety of places and rely on Hyundai or Kia, a Hyundai Motor Group affiliate, for a final assembly site." - MacRumors
2.  It's already known that (if the deal is finalized) it would be assembled in the US in the Kia plant in Westpoint, GA.
3.  The Kia plant is non-UAW.  The south isn't that pro-union.  It's one of the reasons foreign based automotive companies like to set up shop below the Mason-Dixon. 

dk49 said:

If Hyundai decides to Ditch Apple, and Apple doesn't find another car manufacturer ready to assemble their cars, it will become really tough for Apple. They will have to build their own factories which will further delay the project. Though I wonder why Magna didn't say yes to it. They are basically the Foxconn for car manufacturers. And I am sure Apple must have approached them earlier.

Like you, I think Apple contacted Magna early in the process.  Probably one of the first companies Apple contacted.  I think 2 things made Magna an unacceptable partner. 
1. Location - I really think Apple desires a US assembly location.  The infrastructure for manufacturing and assembling their general tech (phones, computers, tablets, etc) is concentrated in Asia.  That's not the case for cars, and assembly in the US could even be cheaper.   Magna has no N. American plants.  It's rumored (again) they're looking to open a N. American plant, but that rumor has surfaced many times over the past couple of decades.
2. Capacity - I've no doubt Magna could handle Apple's initial assembly and volume.  Apple's thinking long term.  Scale and capacity would be Magna's issue.  Magna doesn't have an advantage in ether of those factors that could compete with Hyundai's capacity.  Hyundai/Kia has the ability scale their production to meet any capacity Apple may need.  Magna doesn't have that ability.  They already contract manufacture Jaguar's I-Pace and E-Pace, Toyota's Supra, BMW's 5-Series and Z4, and MB's G-Class.  

When this story initially broke, I said Apple was looking for an OEM/contract manufacturer, not a brand partner.  Some people are still incorrectly looking at this from a brand partner perspective.  Not really sure why.  Questions like, "why Hyundai and not BMW, MB, Porsche, or [insert luxury brand here]" still abound.  None of those brands would ever consider being an OEM manufacturer.  They would have the same concerns that Hyundai is expressing about brand erosion, 'cept their concerns would be magnified because their brands are waaaaaaay more valuable and influential than Hyundai's.  That's not a knock on Hyundai.  That's just reality.