Apple will allow iPhone app downloads from websites in Europe

Published

2 years ago

March 12, 2024

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Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., speaks during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California, U.S., on Monday, June 4, 2018.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

IPhone users in the European Union will be able to download apps from websites, instead of through the App Store or a competing app store app, Apple said, in the the latest change forced by the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act.

It’s a major reversal for Apple. The company has for years fought against web downloads of iPhone software — often called sideloading — citing security issues and Apple’s right to dictate its user experience.

Tuesday’s announcement is the latest example of the Digital Markets Act forcing Apple to make long-resisted changes to its App Store business processes. The DMA is designed to compel “gatekeepers” — big tech companies including Apple — to open their platforms to smaller rivals.

The web download program will start later this spring and requires developers to meet “specific criteria,” such as having an app with over 1 million downloads in Europe. Apple will still collect a fee, it said.

Apple said companies can also offer an app store for iPhones in Europe, so long as it only offers access to one company’s apps.

“Distributing apps directly from a website requires responsibility and oversight of the user experience, including the ability to manage apps and provide customer support and refunds,” Apple said on a support page posted Tuesday. “Apple will authorize developers after meeting specific criteria and committing to ongoing requirements that help protect users.”

Under the DMA, Apple has been forced to allow third-party app stores in Europe, has reinstated antitrust adversary Epic Games’ developer account amid a legal dispute, and has backtracked on banning web app shortcuts on the main iPhone screen. Apple’s moves suggest the European Commission will be able to successfully regulate Apple in the region by threatening fines and other action for non-compliance.

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said the European Commission was checking with Apple’s rivals such as Spotify — which supported Apple being hit with a recent $1.95 billion EU fine over a related app store practice called steering — to make sure that Apple’s new policies comply with the spirit of the law.

“We will want to hear from third parties,” Vestager told CNBC on Monday. “Do they get what the DMA is supposed to give them, which is an open market?”

Apple still plans to charge a fee of fifty Euro cents for app downloads outside of its App Store, including web app downloads. Apple’s App Store fees are a profit center for the company, reported in the company’s services business, which delivered $78 billion in sales in the company’s fiscal 2023, including subscriptions and other items.

The company has said Europe represents about 7% of Apple’s App Store revenue.

Technology

More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

Published

6 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

“Supply constrained,” are the two of the most important words CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he’s heard so far during earnings season and explained why this dynamic is favorable for companies.

“When you’re supplied constrained, you have the ability to raise prices, and that’s the holy grail in any industry,” he said.

Intel‘s strong earnings results were in part because of more demand than supply, Cramer suggested. He noted that the company’s CFO, David Zinsner, said the semiconductor maker is supply constrained for a number of products, and that “industry supply has tightened materially.”

Along with Intel, other tech names that are also supply constrained and performing well on the market include Micron, AMD and Nvidia, Cramer continued.

These companies don’t have enough product in part because the storage needs of artificial intelligence are incredible high, Cramer said. He added that he thinks demand has overwhelmed supply because semiconductor capital equipment companies didn’t manufacture enough of their own machines as they simply didn’t anticipate such a volume of orders.

Outside of tech, Cramer said he thinks airplane maker Boeing and energy company GE Vernova are also supply constrained, adding that he thinks the former will say it’s short on most of its planes when it reports earnings next week. GE Vernova is supply constrained with its power equipment, like turbines that burn natural gas, he continued, which is the primary energy source for the ever-growing crop of data centers.

GE Vernova and Boeing are also set to be winners because they make big-ticket items that other countries can buy from the U.S. to help close the trade deficit, Cramer added.

“In the end, we have more demand than supply in a host of industries and that’s the ticket for good stock performance,” he said. “I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

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Technology

3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

Published

11 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

Wall Street remains skeptical on Intel despite its return to profitability

Intel snapped a losing streak of six straight quarterly losses and returned to profitability in the third quarter.

In its first earnings report since the Trump administration acquired a 10% stake in the company, the U.S. chipmaker posted strong revenue, noting robust demand for chips that it expects to continue into 2026.

Client computing revenue, which includes chips for PCs and laptops, grew 5% year over year, benefiting from PC market stabilization and artificial intelligence PC prospects.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a call with analysts Thursday that artificial intelligence “is a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth as we execute.”

The chip strength and demand were bright spots, but there were areas of concern as well, with the company’s foundry business still needing a big break.

Here are three takeaways from the chipmaker’s Q3 report:

Cash flow

“We significantly improved our cash position and liquidity in Q3, a key focus for me since becoming CEO in March,” Tan said on a call with analysts Thursday.

Intel landed an $8.9 billion investment from the U.S. government in August, along with $2 billion from Softbank, but has not yet received the $5 billion tied to a deal with Nvidia. The company expects that deal to close by the end of Q4.

With all of those transactions completed, plus the Altera sale, Intel will have $35 billion in cash on hand, CFO David Zinser told CNBC.

The U.S. government is the company’s biggest shareholder, and Intel stock is up more than 50% since Aug. 22, when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal.

“Like any shareholder, we have to keep in touch with them,” Zinser said of the U.S. stake. “We don’t tell them how the numbers are going before the quarter. We generally talk to them like Fidelity,” another Intel shareholder.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

Intel 3-month stock chart.

Foundry

The firm’s foundry remains a work in progress.

Revenue fell 2% over the year before, and it has yet to land a major customer.

Intel now has two fabs running 18A nodes, which are designed for AI and high-performance computing applications.

“We are making steady progress on Intel 18A,” Tan said of its latest chip technology. “We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year.”

Zinser said the more advanced 14A nodes won’t be put in supply until the company has “real firm demand.”

Old stuff still selling

Zinser said the company’s older chipmaking processes, or nodes, have continued to do well, “and that was probably the part that was more unexpected.”

Zinser said the chipmaker met some of the central processing unit (CPU) demand with inventory on hand, but they will be behind in Q1, “probably Q2 and maybe in Q3.”

The supply crunch has been with older Intel 10 and 7 manufacturing technologies.

Many customers are opting for less advanced hardware to refresh their operating systems, demonstrating enterprises aren’t waiting for cutting-edge chips when proven technology gets the job done.