Apple, the DoJ, and chocolate mushroom earbuds

Instruction Set, 2024/3/25

Welcome back to Multicore. This is Instruction Set for the week of Monday, March 24th.

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In by far the week’s biggest tech news, Japanese confectionary maker Meiji is releasing “Kinoko no Yama”-shaped wireless earbuds. They’re going on sale tomorrow on crowdfunding platform Makuake for 29,800 yen (about $200); only 3,500 units will be produced. I expect they will sell out quickly.

Kinoko no Yama is an iconic mushroom-shaped chocolate biscuit snack. While in Singapore last year I discovered that their official English name is “Chocorooms”, which is delightful.

Meiji also makes Takenoko no Sato, a similar snack shaped like bamboo shoots. Wars have been waged over which is better. I’m team Kinoko, though Takenoko might make for more discreet earbuds.

Did I forget something?

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Oh yeah, the US Department of Justice is suing Apple for alleged illegal monopolisation of the smartphone market. Unlike the European Commission’s recent antitrust rulings, the Department of Justice is less focused on the App Store and more on the smartphone market. The DoJ makes five primary claims about how Apple has abused its alleged monopoly of what it describes as the “performance smartphone” market.

I’m not an expert in American antitrust law — I’m not even American — but I am an expert in tech companies engaging in business practices that feel icky. As such, I will provide initial analysis of this lawsuit entirely based on vibes.

Blocking Innovative Super Apps. Apple has disrupted the growth of apps with broad functionality that would make it easier for consumers to switch between competing smartphone platforms.

I find this part of the case to be entirely unconvincing. WeChat is the only true “super app” in the world, and it works fine in China on both Android and iOS. Meanwhile, super apps are yet to take over in giant markets like India that overwhelmingly use Android; attempts like Tata’s Neu are not on the same scale.

Everyone here in Japan uses LINE as their primary chat app. LINE has tried a ton of things to make it more like a super app, offering countless failed services like AI assistants and ride-hailing, but very little has stuck beyond the basic chat functionality.

I don’t think that’s because of iOS limitations — it’s because something as dominant as WeChat only makes sense in China’s top-down regulatory environment. The chat app paradigm just isn’t as influential when you have a bunch of competitors providing entirely different services. The main success LINE had as a platform vendor was gaming, which would have required separate app downloads anyway.

The DoJ might have a point about Apple’s restriction of web app or mini-app functionality, but this isn’t the way I’d make it.

Suppressing Mobile Cloud Streaming Services. Apple has blocked the development of cloud-streaming apps and services that would allow consumers to enjoy high-quality video games and other cloud-based applications without having to pay for expensive smartphone hardware.

This is indeed something that Apple did that I think is bad and should be subject to regulatory intervention. The European Union has already done that, though, and Apple responded in January by allowing iOS apps to provide access to complete streaming catalogues worldwide.