A new report by the Financial Times is shedding light on iPhone maker Apple’s latest claims about its iMessage services.
The tech giant spoke about how the service just isn’t big enough to fall under the latest regulations set forward by the EU called the Digital Markets Act. Moreover, the evidence provided for the matter also wasn’t too clear or detailed but it did shed light on how the iMessage comes preinstalled on every device sold by the company and is definitely one of the most used ones out there today.
However, the company has yet to make any public statements regarding the matter.
The initial list featuring gatekeeper services is all set to get launched by this week’s end and these include all of those that would be forced to fall in line with the latest restrictions. So since the list is launched this week, we’re expecting to see it make way for some alternative places for app purchasing and sideloading services via third parties.
See, Europe’s DMA is designed to take the current monopoly behavior into consideration by leading tech giants as it feels they’re been ruling uncontrollably for far too long. Moreover, if rumors about Apple’s iMessage falling under this act were actually true, then the matter would be a sticky affair for the company.
The company would be left with no choice but to launch the service up to third parties and it would just be too complex to even consider how the Cupertino giant would really end up working that out.
The law classifies gatekeeping services as one that features a whopping 45 million users each month in the European Union region. Similarly, it speaks about turnovers crossing the 7.5 billion euros yearly and market caps that exceed the 75 billion euro mark.
When it comes down to the financial figures, the app qualifies for sure. But the question is whether the service has a user count of 45 million in the European region or not. Therefore, that’s a new debate worth considering.
Apple’s userbase metrics are definitely another debate on its own because the firm likes staying private. Therefore, we really don’t actually know how many people use it in every region. Let’s not forget how other archrivals including Meta’s WhatsApp happen to be more dominant in Europe than America, and the latter is where the iMessage service has a greater take-up.
Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. The iPhone stands for more than 25% of the smartphone market across Europe. And it’s clear that the iMessage by Apple would have millions using it. Now whether that’s in line with the 45 million figure or not still remains a debate.
But what happens in cases when the iMessage service by Apple isn’t a part of the gatekeeper list that’s published soon? The EC will not leave the matter alone. Moreover, they’re more than likely to force the tech giant to publish its correct metrics linked to users.
The new DMA is all set to take center stage by Spring of next year so as you can imagine, time is of the essence.
Meanwhile, engineers in the company are already drawing efforts for support of alternative means for sideloading and app installs so that Apple’s App Store stays in line with the latest rules of the EU.
In the past, we heard the company mentions how the App Store has crossed the 101 million user figure for the region and that’s definitely much greater than the 45 million figure outlined.
Read next: Social Media Managers Are Getting More Burnt Out, With 42% Planning to Quit
The tech giant spoke about how the service just isn’t big enough to fall under the latest regulations set forward by the EU called the Digital Markets Act. Moreover, the evidence provided for the matter also wasn’t too clear or detailed but it did shed light on how the iMessage comes preinstalled on every device sold by the company and is definitely one of the most used ones out there today.
However, the company has yet to make any public statements regarding the matter.
The initial list featuring gatekeeper services is all set to get launched by this week’s end and these include all of those that would be forced to fall in line with the latest restrictions. So since the list is launched this week, we’re expecting to see it make way for some alternative places for app purchasing and sideloading services via third parties.
See, Europe’s DMA is designed to take the current monopoly behavior into consideration by leading tech giants as it feels they’re been ruling uncontrollably for far too long. Moreover, if rumors about Apple’s iMessage falling under this act were actually true, then the matter would be a sticky affair for the company.
The company would be left with no choice but to launch the service up to third parties and it would just be too complex to even consider how the Cupertino giant would really end up working that out.
The law classifies gatekeeping services as one that features a whopping 45 million users each month in the European Union region. Similarly, it speaks about turnovers crossing the 7.5 billion euros yearly and market caps that exceed the 75 billion euro mark.
When it comes down to the financial figures, the app qualifies for sure. But the question is whether the service has a user count of 45 million in the European region or not. Therefore, that’s a new debate worth considering.
Apple’s userbase metrics are definitely another debate on its own because the firm likes staying private. Therefore, we really don’t actually know how many people use it in every region. Let’s not forget how other archrivals including Meta’s WhatsApp happen to be more dominant in Europe than America, and the latter is where the iMessage service has a greater take-up.
Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. The iPhone stands for more than 25% of the smartphone market across Europe. And it’s clear that the iMessage by Apple would have millions using it. Now whether that’s in line with the 45 million figure or not still remains a debate.
But what happens in cases when the iMessage service by Apple isn’t a part of the gatekeeper list that’s published soon? The EC will not leave the matter alone. Moreover, they’re more than likely to force the tech giant to publish its correct metrics linked to users.
The new DMA is all set to take center stage by Spring of next year so as you can imagine, time is of the essence.
Meanwhile, engineers in the company are already drawing efforts for support of alternative means for sideloading and app installs so that Apple’s App Store stays in line with the latest rules of the EU.
In the past, we heard the company mentions how the App Store has crossed the 101 million user figure for the region and that’s definitely much greater than the 45 million figure outlined.
Read next: Social Media Managers Are Getting More Burnt Out, With 42% Planning to Quit
