Apple Pulls WhatsApp From China App Store After Beijing Request

Published: 19 April 2024 at 03:08

Technology

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. said that it removed Meta Platforms Inc.s WhatsApp and Threads from its China apps store after an order from the countrys internet regulator, which said the services pose risks to the countrys security. Most Read from Bloomberg Elon Wants His Money Back Dubai Grinds to Standstill as Flooding Hits City Record Rainfall in Dubai? Blame Climate Change, Not Cloud Seeding Singapore Loses Worlds Best Airport Crown to Qatar Red Lobster Considers Bankruptcy to Deal With Leases and Labor Costs We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree. The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns, Apple said in a statement.

DEEP DIVE

Meta to Temporarily Shut Down Threads in Turkey Due to Data Sharing Concerns

Meta plans to temporarily close Threads in Turkey following an interim injunction from the Turkish Competition Authority over data sharing between Threads and Instagram without user opt-in. Turkish regulators fined Meta $18.6 million in 2022 for similar data-sharing practices. This is part of a series of regulatory challenges Meta has faced in the European region, including fines for GDPR breaches and forced divestitures. Threads users in Turkey can choose to delete or deactivate their profiles until the service is back. Meta disagrees with the order and intends to appeal.

Apple Opens Eighth Store in Shanghai, Tim Cook Makes High-Profile Visit

Apple Inc. opened its eighth store in Shanghai, located on West Nanjing Road facing Jing'an Temple, making it the second-largest retail network for Apple after the U.S. CEO Tim Cook attended the opening, aiming to boost sales in China. Despite a decline in iPhone sales, Apple holds a dominant position in the premium segment. Cook's visit emphasizes China's importance as Apple's overseas market and manufacturing hub. The company also plans to expand its research center in Shanghai and strengthen its offline presence amidst growing competition from Chinese phone makers.

Exec: Apple Inc to expand R&D presence

Apple Inc is expanding in China with new applied research labs, in a fresh move to tap into the country's manufacturing and research and development prowess to make the best products, a senior executive of the company said on Tuesday. The move means that Apple is the latest multinational company to seek growth opportunities in China amid its innovation boom, as the nation sharpens its focus on nurturing new quality productive forces. Experts said China remains a magnet for foreign high-tech investment, and multinational companies' enthusiasm to expand their local R&D presence reflects the appeal and vitality of the world's second-largest economy amid external uncertainties and challenges. Isabel Ge Mahe, vice-president and managing director of Apple Greater China, told China Daily: "We have already invested 1 billion yuan ($139.4 million) into an applied research lab in China.

G42 Made Secret Pact With US to Divest From China Before Microsoft Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.s just-announced partnership with Abu Dhabis G42 followed behind-the-scenes negotiations between the US government and the Middle Eastern firm, which agreed to divest from China and pivot to American technology. Most Read from Bloomberg Beyond the Ivies: Surprise Winners in the List of Colleges With the Highest ROI Trump Medias $5.3 Billion Selloff Deepens as 270% Rally Fizzles S&P 500 Breaks Below 5,100 as Big Tech Sells Off: Markets Wrap Irans Attack on Israel Sparks Race to Avert a Full-Blown War Apple Faces Worst iPhone Slump Since Covid as Rivals Rise G42, a holding company focused on artificial intelligence, held talks with the US Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security and came to an understanding last year, according to people familiar with the discussions. Under the arrangement, G42 agreed to pare back its presence in China or face potentially punitive measures from Washington, they said.

Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms, Inc. (Wikipedia)

Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Federal Trade Commission v. Facebook, Inc.) is an ongoing antitrust court case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms. The lawsuit alleges that Meta has accumulated monopoly power via anti-competitive mergers, with the suit centering on the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.The suit was filed on December 8, 2020, in conjunction with 46 states. The lawsuit was initially dismissed in June 2021, but was refiled with an amended complaint in August 2021. The case survived Meta's motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January 2022. As of February 2024, no trial date has been agreed upon in the case, with the FTC pushing for a trial in 2024, while attorneys for Meta argued the timeframe would be unrealistic.

Meta Platforms (Wikipedia)

Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta, and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Meta ranks among the largest American information technology companies, alongside other Big Five corporations Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. The company was ranked #31 on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking in 2023.Meta has also acquired Oculus (which it has integrated into Reality Labs), Mapillary, CTRL-Labs, and a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms; the company additionally endeavored into non-VR hardware, such as the discontinued Meta Portal smart displays line and presently partners with Luxottica through the Ray-Ban Stories series of smart glasses. Despite endeavors into hardware, the company relies on advertising for a vast majority of its revenue, amounting to 97.8 percent in 2023.Parent company Facebook, Inc. rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc. on October 28, 2021, to "reflect its focus on building the metaverse", an integrated environment linking the company's products and services.

Meta's Threads App and Bonus Program for Creators

Meta launched Threads in July 2023 as a microblogging app to compete with Twitter. Threads allows public conversations with 500-character posts. Initially facing privacy concerns, it gained popularity but usage dipped until Meta added new features. A cash bonus program for creators on Threads rewards engaging content. Threads became the No. 1 app in the Apple App Store in the US by the end of 2023, surpassing X (formerly Twitter). Meta is testing bonus programs for creators on Threads and Instagram to incentivize content creation and sustain user engagement.

Threads (social network) (Wikipedia)

Threads is an online social media and social networking service operated by Meta Platforms. The app offers users the ability to post and share text, images, and videos, as well as interact with other users' posts through replies, reposts, and likes. Closely linked to Meta platform Instagram and additionally requiring users to both have an Instagram account and use Threads under the same Instagram handle, the functionality of Threads is similar to X (formerly known as Twitter). The application is available on iOS and Android devices; the web version offers limited functionality and requires a mobile app to be installed first. It is the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, gaining over 100 million users in its first five days, surpassing the record previously set by ChatGPT. Its early success was not sustained and the user base of the app plummeted more than 80% to 8 million daily active users by the end of July.After Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, Meta employees explored the concept of introducing text-based functionality to Instagram. This feature, known as Instagram Notes, was rolled out in December 2022. The company subsequently began developing a separate app focused on text-based posts. Development on Threads—internally known as "Project 92"—commenced in January 2023, with the platform officially launching on July 5, 2023. Threads immediately became available in 100 countries (out of 193 UN member states), but until December 14, 2023 had delayed its launch in the European Union as it waited for regulatory clarity from the European Commission regarding the service's data collection policies.

Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. (Wikipedia)

Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is the general title of a series of patent infringement lawsuits between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics in the United States Court system, regarding the design of smartphones and tablet computers. Between them, the two companies have dominated the manufacturing of smartphones since the early 2010s, and made about 40% of all smartphones sold worldwide as of 2024. In early 2011, Apple began litigating against Samsung in patent infringement suits, with Samsung typically filing countersuits with similar allegations. Apple's multinational litigation over technology patents became known as part of the smartphone wars: extensive litigation and fierce competition in the global market for consumer mobile communications.By late 2011, Apple and Samsung were litigating about twenty ongoing cases in ten countries. By the following year the two companies were still embroiled in more than 50 lawsuits around the globe, with billions of dollars in damages claimed between them. While Apple won a ruling in its favor in the United States, Samsung won rulings in South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom. On June 4, 2013, Samsung won a limited ban from the U.S. International Trade Commission on sales of certain Apple products after the commission found Apple had violated a Samsung patent, but this was vetoed by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.In December 2016, the United States Supreme Court decided 8–0 to reverse a lower court decision that awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to Apple and remanded the case to the Federal Circuit Court court to determine which aspects of American patent law had been used correctly or incorrectly in the previous hearings. The two companies finally reached an out-of-court settlement in the United States in 2018.