Guess I’ve been over-strident, as usual. I agree with Ulanoff - I too wanted the closed store, but the idea that the EU overstepped (as it often does) is not the issue. For me, it’s the ham-fisted, and genuinely punitive “compliance” that gets under my skin. Why doesn’t Apple issue their own poison pill - “We’ll just withdraw from Europe.” - I know that would/could never happen, but likewise the alleged threat by the EU to break up Apple into a separate hardware and software companies is any less brinksmanship…
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The EU actually would do it though. It’s not an idle threat at all.
And Apple threatening to pull out is hardly a threat. It might even be welcomed but some and seen as an opportunity for a European competitor to enter the market, it at least be a carrot for South Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese companies.
There’s considerable concern in the EU about the reliance on others for technology, especially the US.
Unlike the likes of Microsoft and IBM, Apple make nothing that Europeans can’t do without. And even in the case of Microsoft, threats have not been received well and the those making them have quickly shut up.
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All hail our Samsung Overlords
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