Apple Defends Ecosystem in Australia as Antitrust Firefighting Around the World Continues

Apple has robustly defended its ecosystem in a submission to Australia's competition watchdog, amid growing global scrutiny of the power of big tech companies and "gatekeeping."

applerundleplaceaustralia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has scrutinized Apple's ecosystem in a series of investigations since last year and encouraged the company to give users more control over preinstalled apps and services. In a detailed response to the ACCC's Digital Platform Services Inquiry Discussion Paper, Apple argued that proposed changes to its ecosystem "would reduce incentives for dynamic firms like Apple to innovate and develop new and differentiated products" and expose users to a "far less secure and private environment."

Apple is puzzled that the competition and consumer protection agency would prioritise purported competition concerns which lack cogent evidence of harm, over clear and present severe damage to users that they experience every day. That is not what consumers want to see as outcomes of legislative reform - they want stronger, not weaker, protection - from the unlawful conduct which affects the hundreds of thousands of Australians every year whose information is stolen, scammed, traded and exploited to their detriment.

Apple highlighted confidential data that it submitted to the ACCC that shows there is "a meaningful, consistent, and upward-trending willingness of users to switch between devices and platforms, and an ongoing capacity for them to do so." The company also argued that it competes with "other software distribution platforms to attract developers to the App Store," citing web apps as an example of "an alternative means for developers to distribute apps to iOS users."

Australia is among the many countries now heavily scrutinizing Apple's ecosystem and threatening pervasive legislation in an attempt to force changes, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and more, with a clear appetite from global regulators to explore requirements around app store policies, app sideloading, and interoperability.

See Apple's full response to the ACCC for more information.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

BootsWalking Avatar
20 months ago
Uh oh, yet another continent the faithful will say Apple should pull out of. There's always Antarctica.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jakey rolling Avatar
20 months ago

Maybe apple should put Australia in its rear view mirror.
There it is.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macative Avatar
20 months ago
Had Apple not locked down iOS in the beginning, and ran it much more like macOS from the start...does anyone truly believe: 1) they would have made any less money (measurably)? 2) the iPhone would not be secure?

Both ideas are very doubtful.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DBZmusicboy01 Avatar
20 months ago
This decade has been Anti everything good :(
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jakey rolling Avatar
20 months ago

No it isn't.

If devs choose to leave the Apple App Store to either go it alone or be exclusively in another store we as consumers lose:
[LIST=1]
* The convenience of a one stop shop for app purchases and updates
* The security/privacy of Apple's payment system versus others
* The very clear privacy declarations that the Apple store requires.

Here's the thing - none of those things will go away. Apple will still have a store, and you can still rest cozy in your little well-protected walled garden with your iNanny watching over you, if you want. All you need to do is not buy apps from other stores. While that might be a tad inconvenient because you really really want that killer app - that still becomes your choice, instead of Apple's. And it's still a far less invasive suggestion than you walled-garden fans telling us to ditch our iPhones and switch to Android every time this subject comes up.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dguisinger Avatar
20 months ago
I'm going to keep saying it, they should have found a middle ground early on. Its going to be death by a 1000 paper cuts with conflicting rules from every authority on the planet if they don't cave on some things and strike a balance...and its probably too late.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions. As noted by The Washington Post,...
iOS 17

26 New Things Your iPhone Can Do With Next Month's iOS 17.2 Update

Wednesday November 22, 2023 10:57 pm PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen two more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 26 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released in December. 1. Help You...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Cyber Monday Deals Feature 2022

40+ Apple Cyber Week Deals for AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and More

Sunday November 26, 2023 9:47 am PST by
Cyber Week has taken the place of Black Friday, and you'll find some of the same deals still around for the next few days, although many from Black Friday have now expired. This includes dozens of record low prices on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iPhone, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
General Black Friday Deals 2022 Green

40+ Apple Black Friday Deals Still Available for AirPods, iPhone, iPad and More

Friday November 24, 2023 5:01 am PST by
Black Friday 2023 has officially ended, but we're still tracking some of the best deals of the year on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, iPhone, MacBook, and many more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Specifically, in this article we're...