In this guest contribution from Steve Vonder Haar, Senior Analyst with Wainhouse, a Futurum Group Company, Vonder Haar explores Google’s net neutrality battle in Europe, and what we can expect from this renewed battle going forward.
The Great Siege of Qualcomm: How Three Waves of Assaults on Qualcomm from 2013 to 2020 Helped Strengthen US Technology Leadership – Part 1
Who tried to take down Qualcomm? What were they after? Why didn’t they prevail? What does Qualcomm’s resilience mean for the future? These are the questions that Futurum Senior Analyst, Olivier Blanchard, dives into in the first episode of this three-part series, in which regulators challenged the company’s technology licensing model. Under the guise of investigating potential “anti-competitive” behavior, the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, and European equivalents of the United States’ FTC all took turns attempting to paint Qualcomm’s technology licensing and/or business practices as anti-competitive, when they, in fact, were not.
EU to Introduce Digital Wallet Initiative Ahead of US, Sets First Major Milestone for 2022
The EU will introduce a digital wallet initiative ahead of the US, setting a first major milestone for 2022. Futurum’s Olivier Blanchard covers the many nuances of that initiative, including Qualcomm’s prescient 2019 updates to its Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform and subsequent security clearance, what’s likely ahead there, as well as whether the EC will back down at all in its crusade against major US tech companies, whose assistance will no doubt be needed here.
Why The European Commission’s Antitrust Case Against Apple Is A Lot More Dangerous To The Tech Sector Than It Seems
Futurum’s Olivier Blanchard on why the European Commission’s antitrust case against Apple is a lot more dangerous to the tech sector than it seems.
What Google’s Acquisition of Fitbit Means for Google’s Expanding Experience Ecosystem, the Future of Wear OS, and User Privacy
Futurum’s Olivier Blanchard covers Google’s acquisition of Fitbit and how it could deliver the missing piece in Google’s product ecosystem — and perhaps make Apple nervous in the process. Why? Aside from Google’s wearables business suddenly absorbing Fitbit’s nearly 30 million active users worldwide, Google also finally has the tools to become an implementer of its own Wear OS platform.
ICYMI: 2016 $15 Billion Judgment Against Apple Hangs on by a Thread Following General Court of the European Court of Justice Ruling
At the heart of the European Commission’s case against Apple (and by default, to some degree, against Ireland) is the fact that EU member States, under EU state aid rules, are prohibited from providing tax benefits to select companies. In 2016, the EC concluded that Ireland had granted illegally preferential and artificially low tax benefits to Apple.
US Antitrust Action against Google Could Come Sooner than Expected
At the heart of Google’s US antitrust troubles is the search giant’s staggering advantage in online search: Google processes roughly 90% of all online searches in the US. But there’s a difference between hypercompetitive behavior and anticompetitive behavior, and I believe that’s what this case is about. As this plays out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google rubbing up against the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent ruling in FTC vs. Qualcomm. Interesting times ahead, to be sure.
Escalating App Store War Between Apple and Developers Likely to Bleed into Antitrust Probes in US and EU
Apple removes Fortnite, Epic Games’ popular battle royale game, from its App Store, and blocks “rival” game streaming platforms from iOS. Fortnite pretty much immediately filed suit, but there’s much more to unpack in this quest for a piece of the mobile game revenue pie. Note that last year 2.5 billion people played mobile games, propelling mobile game revenues to amount to nearly 75% of all in-app spending. 30% of that revenue is what Apple (and Google) are fighting to capture, at the expense, some would argue, of game developers.
Apple Antitrust Probes Heat up 2020 for the iPhone Giant as it Faces Scrutiny in the EU and US
Unpacking the scrutiny on Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay business practices that have caught the ire of regulators, lawmakers, and other tech companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Of note, a third vulnerability for Apple, and an angle that US courts will be perhaps more eager to tackle than the previous two, is whether or not Apple’s business practices can be shown to have led to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers. This is a core litmus test for antitrust cases in the US, and this point should have Apple attorneys at least a little worried.
Google $2.1 Billion Fitbit Acquisition Hits EU Snag
Fears about Google’s use of Fitbit data to potentially gain an unfair advertising advantage cause EU regulators to take a closer look at the potential anticompetitive effects of the deal. I don’t see much cause for alarm here, and here’s why.
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