EU Chief Calls on Apple CEO Tim Cook to Open Hardware and Software Ecosystem

EU industry chief Thierry Breton today publicly called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to open the company's ecosystem of hardware and software to rivals (via Reuters).

European Commisssion
Following an in-person meeting with Cook earlier today in Brussels, Belgium, Breton told Reuters:

The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors. Be it the electronic wallet, browsers or app stores, consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers.

The EU's Digital Markets Act seeks to curtail the power of major tech companies. Designated "gatekeeper" platforms will now face prohibition against favoring their own services over those of rivals. Earlier this month, Apple's App Store, Safari, and iOS were officially classified as gatekeepers. Apple is expected to add support for sideloading apps from outside the ‌App Store‌ on iPhones and iPads in Europe via an update to iOS 17 due to the DMA's requirements.

Breton went on to be critical of Apple's argument that security and privacy are the reasons it protects its closed ecosystem. "EU regulation fosters innovation, without compromising on security and privacy," Breton added. After the discussion, Cook today visited a local Apple retail store in Brussels:

Apple apparently declined to respond to Breton's latest remarks.

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

rdinterman Avatar
11 weeks ago
Many of us CHOOSE Apple because of their ecosystem. It’s called a free market. If people don’t want it they are FREE to choose something else.
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
11 weeks ago


"EU regulation fosters innovation, without compromising on security and privacy," Breton added.
Literally no one with a fifth grade education believes this.



consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers.
Translation: European businesses aren't competitive due to the regulations we crushed them under, so now we must crush others to bring them down to our level.
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tardman91 Avatar
11 weeks ago

can’t wait to see everyone mentally contort themselves to defend billion dollar tech companies and think that’s normal in the comments ?
I think people are defending the user experience more so than defending billion dollar tech companies. Do you want your iPhone experience to be like Android? What a disaster that would be. Most people use Apple products because of the whole ecosystem and the (mostly) seamless user experience.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimbobb24 Avatar
11 weeks ago

can’t wait to see everyone mentally contort themselves to defend billion dollar tech companies and think that’s normal in the comments ?
I agree once company gets to a billion they should have no rights and exist only to be plundered and abused by the whims of politicians. It’s only right.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haruhiko Avatar
11 weeks ago
lol Europe really wants to kill the whole business model of Apple. Does anyone remember the browser selection screen of Microsoft Windows?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
11 weeks ago
It's ironic to read the EU guys talking about "fostering innovation" when there's so precious little of it happening in the EU.

But when the only tool you have is a hammer, I guess you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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