The government labeling something that Apple fans love as “not needing regulation” is purely a win for Apple. Imagine if 99% of text messages sent were via iMessage, and the EU kept the same ruling. That means that Apple has a functioning monopoly that is not considered a monopoly because there’s technically an alternative.
Imagine if 99% of text messages sent were via iMessage, and the EU kept the same ruling
That’s not how the law works, though. If they manage to grow iMessage’s user base to a significant level, they’ll be subject to the DMA. The conclusion isn’t “Apple doesn’t need regulation”, it’s “iMessage isn’t big enough to be considered a threat to the messenger ecosystem”.
Knowing Apple, they’ll probably try to stop their users from switching to iMessage so they don’t get popular enough to need to follow DMA restrictions.
Did you just say Apple would try to prevent their users from switching to iMessage? Apple knows iMessage is a massive selling point for iPhones which is the reason Apple is so afraid of opening iMessage up to begin with.
Bu that’s the point, it isn’t a selling point in europe. People here mainly use WhatsApp. As a european iPhone user with a lot of other iPhone users in my social circle I pretty much never get an iMessage. I got one two weeks ago, but before that my last iMessage was in 2018. I’ve never heard anyone here talk about blue vs green bubbles and never heard iMessage mentioned in an Android vs iOS discussion.
Not around these parts. I know other European countries have more iPhone users, but across the EU almost everyone has a different messaging app. Could be WhatsApp, could be Facebook Messenger, could be Telegram, could be Viber, but iMessage/SMS/RCS isn’t very popular at all.
Apple removed the ability to install PWAs in the EU update, presumably because they don’t want to give competing browsers the same privilege and are mandated by law to provide an equal playing field, so I don’t think it’d be too far-fetched that Apple would actually dislike growing their iMessage user base. They’re selling plenty of iPhones without it.
@skullgiver For Apple, the US I think is their main market. Here is still that thing that you need to be rich enough to afford, so this is why iMessage is not such a great thing.
I think that by staying below the EU radar they get to keep their walls for the US users, where regulations are more lax and don’t pose any risk for their business model.
It is a major point of social pressure. People get legitimately upset when they start a group chat and realize one of the members doesn’t have an iPhone. That absolutely makes it valuable to Apple
That’s a minor irritation, hardly a reason to completely swap ecosystems. This sounds fringe/speculative. There is no way this is an actual driver of iPhone adoption. Any sources?
I agree it’s a minor irritation by most standards, but when all that’s on the line is making jokes about someone based on their choice of phone there’s no reason not to pressure someone else.
As to sources, I see it happen all the time. I used to be the one who upset people, then I bought an iPhone and almost everyone I texted got really excited to see the color of our chat change. I’ve also seen countless memes about green chat bubbles and people ruining group chats because of their Androids. I’m not sure you’re going to get much more reliable sources than anecdotal ones for something like this.
Well, if you don’t know that, it means that either, you are not a US citizen, which we ruled out, ooooor… oooh, I hate to break it to you but… you have lost touch with “the youngsters” as they say. You are old.
Show me a source that people are buying iPhones so they can use iMessage. This sounds like a gut/“it sounds true” statement to me. I would be surprised if it was an actual driver of sales in any meaningful way.
Imagine if 99% of text messages sent were via iMessage, and the EU kept the same ruling.
If 99% of messages were sent via iMessage the ruling would have been different. if it ever fulfils the criteria needed to be considered gatekeepers, then they will be designed as such.
@Bitrot Kinda like that. Most friends of mine don’t even own an iPhone. Those who do, generally use Facebook Messenger to speak to each other. If anyone is not on Facebook, they are surely on WhatsApp, or they can be reached via the classical phone calls and SMS messages (but I’ve yet to meet someone who I need to use these with, as they are clearly inconvenient as hell). If there’s a group chat, it is generally on WhatsApp.
I heard Telegram is popular as well in the post-soviet space. It is my fallback as well, and I’m not in one. Plenty of Romanian channels (news or organizations), and I speak with a couple of friends from there. I realize this is just “a different WhatsApp” from the POV of a centralized silo, but the features are great and I’d clearly trust Telegram more than Meta. @brisk
It’s a win for Apple, but isn’t it also sort of a loss because they’re not popular enough to count?
The government labeling something that Apple fans love as “not needing regulation” is purely a win for Apple. Imagine if 99% of text messages sent were via iMessage, and the EU kept the same ruling. That means that Apple has a functioning monopoly that is not considered a monopoly because there’s technically an alternative.
That’s not how the law works, though. If they manage to grow iMessage’s user base to a significant level, they’ll be subject to the DMA. The conclusion isn’t “Apple doesn’t need regulation”, it’s “iMessage isn’t big enough to be considered a threat to the messenger ecosystem”.
Knowing Apple, they’ll probably try to stop their users from switching to iMessage so they don’t get popular enough to need to follow DMA restrictions.
Did you just say Apple would try to prevent their users from switching to iMessage? Apple knows iMessage is a massive selling point for iPhones which is the reason Apple is so afraid of opening iMessage up to begin with.
Bu that’s the point, it isn’t a selling point in europe. People here mainly use WhatsApp. As a european iPhone user with a lot of other iPhone users in my social circle I pretty much never get an iMessage. I got one two weeks ago, but before that my last iMessage was in 2018. I’ve never heard anyone here talk about blue vs green bubbles and never heard iMessage mentioned in an Android vs iOS discussion.
Not around these parts. I know other European countries have more iPhone users, but across the EU almost everyone has a different messaging app. Could be WhatsApp, could be Facebook Messenger, could be Telegram, could be Viber, but iMessage/SMS/RCS isn’t very popular at all.
Apple removed the ability to install PWAs in the EU update, presumably because they don’t want to give competing browsers the same privilege and are mandated by law to provide an equal playing field, so I don’t think it’d be too far-fetched that Apple would actually dislike growing their iMessage user base. They’re selling plenty of iPhones without it.
@skullgiver For Apple, the US I think is their main market. Here is still that thing that you need to be rich enough to afford, so this is why iMessage is not such a great thing.
I think that by staying below the EU radar they get to keep their walls for the US users, where regulations are more lax and don’t pose any risk for their business model.
@BmeBenji
Perhaps, but even in the USA Apple seems to be attracting antitrust investigations.
What? No one buys an iPhone for iMessage. That’s absurd.
It is a major point of social pressure. People get legitimately upset when they start a group chat and realize one of the members doesn’t have an iPhone. That absolutely makes it valuable to Apple
That’s a minor irritation, hardly a reason to completely swap ecosystems. This sounds fringe/speculative. There is no way this is an actual driver of iPhone adoption. Any sources?
I agree it’s a minor irritation by most standards, but when all that’s on the line is making jokes about someone based on their choice of phone there’s no reason not to pressure someone else. As to sources, I see it happen all the time. I used to be the one who upset people, then I bought an iPhone and almost everyone I texted got really excited to see the color of our chat change. I’ve also seen countless memes about green chat bubbles and people ruining group chats because of their Androids. I’m not sure you’re going to get much more reliable sources than anecdotal ones for something like this.
safsafdasd
I’ve been told that that’s how the kids roll these days in the US.
As a us citizen this is news to me
Well, if you don’t know that, it means that either, you are not a US citizen, which we ruled out, ooooor… oooh, I hate to break it to you but… you have lost touch with “the youngsters” as they say. You are old.
Show me a source that people are buying iPhones so they can use iMessage. This sounds like a gut/“it sounds true” statement to me. I would be surprised if it was an actual driver of sales in any meaningful way.
There’s no need for the sarcasm/tone.
If 99% of messages were sent via iMessage the ruling would have been different. if it ever fulfils the criteria needed to be considered gatekeepers, then they will be designed as such.
I’m sure the rule would be different. My point was mostly to say this is in no way bad for Apple
@Bitrot Kinda like that. Most friends of mine don’t even own an iPhone. Those who do, generally use Facebook Messenger to speak to each other. If anyone is not on Facebook, they are surely on WhatsApp, or they can be reached via the classical phone calls and SMS messages (but I’ve yet to meet someone who I need to use these with, as they are clearly inconvenient as hell). If there’s a group chat, it is generally on WhatsApp.
I heard Telegram is popular as well in the post-soviet space. It is my fallback as well, and I’m not in one. Plenty of Romanian channels (news or organizations), and I speak with a couple of friends from there. I realize this is just “a different WhatsApp” from the POV of a centralized silo, but the features are great and I’d clearly trust Telegram more than Meta.
@brisk
I’ve always had android and never had any iMessage issues since whatsapp, telegram etc are much more popular here
@And009 yea, WhatsApp and other Meta products are especially so ubiquitous.
Hope signal becomes the default or brings in some kind of support without the meta tracking
“Victory, we can’t even get 10% market share!” sounds like something Apple would celebrate.