“Shares of Apple Computer gained as rival Microsoft Corp. faced new pressure from the European Union’s top antitrust body, which is raising concerns about the company’s new Windows operating system, Vista. Shares of Apple surged 6.1 percent to $62.29,” Reuters reports.
“The Commission said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes had written to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to express worries about the company’s upcoming Vista operating system,” Reuters reports. “Apple’s Macintosh computers use Apple’s own Mac OS X operating system rather than Microsoft’s Windows… The Commission, the European Union’s top antitrust body, is concerned that Vista may package Internet search functions or software to create fixed document formats, such as the ‘pdf’ format, posing a potential threat to companies such as Google Inc. or Adobe Systems Inc. which provide similar products. ‘We are concerned about the possibility that the next Vista operating system will include various elements which are currently available separately from Microsoft or other companies,’ said Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd.”
“On Thursday, Microsoft fights to stave off fines handed down in a previous case by EU competition regulators. Microsoft is in a long-running battle with the Commission, which decided in 2004 that the world’s largest software company had abused the dominance of its Windows operating system and fined it nearly half a billion euros. Analysts also cited optimism that the delay of the Vista operating system could boost sales of Apple’s Macintosh computers in the holiday-sales-fuelled fourth quarter. ‘There’s more interest around Apple with the Vista delay,’ said Shannon Cross of Cross Research, adding that the stock has sold off heavily since the middle of January,” Reuters reports.
Full article here.
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Uh, thats not why APPL took off.
A lot of people covering their shorts…and a quick glance at its chart shows that it is likely forming its base here.
Ballmer had the news on March 20 – just after that they announced the delay and re-write of software. This is bad, bad, bad news for Microsoft.
The EU has DONE much to stir the pot but is this _really_ what we need?
Take MS and Apple out of the equation and answer this: Do you want a government legislating file formats and interoperability?
With the iTunes issue in France and this EU Vista concern, the issue is who should decide the feature set of an application: the market forces or the legislature?
In either case, I am strongly in favor of letting the market decide. Do we really need Acrobat Reader if Vista natively read and created PDFs? For the answer, just look to OS X that does the very same thing.
I don’t think the legislature understands technology enough to be trusted with these choises
Mac fan here asking a sincere question:
Apple has Quartz built into OS X that provides PDF functionality, so why aren’t the EU breathing down their necks? Surely OS X has features built into it that are currently available from Adobe?
No flaming at all, just want to know why. Cheers.
This is a dumb reason for AAPL to surge. Most likely for another reason, like the lull in Apple’s product plans is ending soon as will be the transition to Intel.
And I can’t wait until the transition is complete so people will go back to calling them Macs again instead of the hideous moniker of Mactel.
MacTels they are and will be for many years
The whole PPC user base of 25 million machines is not going to change overnight.
PPC will rule for at least the next 4 years.
Jim, an excellent question. It’s not fair, but it is entirely because Windows has greater than 90% market share. They are, by all legal definitions, a monopoly. Special rules apply when you are monopoly, as Apple is beginning to find out in the digital music arena.
And I agree the recent surge in Apple stock is not because of this EU vs Microsoft thing.
It’s just a bunch of poor fool investors who were tricked into buying.
Apple stock has some more downward adjustment to do.
The CEO of a company who sells half his stock, combined with the fact that PC sales are expected to slow considerably this year and the next should tell you we need to follow the BEAR.
Jim “Apple has Quartz built into OS X that provides PDF functionality, so why aren’t the EU breathing down their necks? Surely OS X has features built into it that are currently available from Adobe?”
It’s because the PDFs that OSX creates are compatible with the PDFs that Adobe and a hundred shareware apps can read. Microsoft wants to replace the PDF standard with their own proprietary format that only users of Microsoft software will be able to read, and to include this new format into Vista as a default option. Basically, they’re trying to nudge Adobe out of the market by abusing their monopoly position. Old dog, old tricks.
Jim – the answer to your question is that Microsoft has huge market share, while Apple doesn’t. Microsoft also has more of a history of making their file formats unreadable by other companies (i.e., Office formats), and refuses to let competitors like WordPerfect (through its various owners) be able to open or save as Word docs, etc.
Not that Apple has never done the same thing, but it makes a difference when you control the vast majority of the market.
Apple’s stock has nothing to do with the EU letter. Stock analysts are spouting off about people selling shorts, and thus people think it’s a buying opportunity, so they buy. The market is controlled as much by analysts and large buyers as it is by company performance. Perception is reality on Wall Street.
Also, there has been talk recently of Apple releasing a new iPhone or new iPod, although Apple has done nothing to announce new products. So people are speculating that, with Apple’s 30 year anniversary approaching, that something bit will come out of Cupertino. That probably will happen, but it may just be new Intel iBooks rather than the new, sexy, dream items so many people want to see.
Cheers for the (gruesome) answers,
I thought that might be the case, so surely Micro$oft can’t call their new formmat a ‘PDF’ because by definition it quite clearly is not a ‘Portable Document Format’ ® as described by Adobe, who invented the format?
I still use Distiller, I print a PostScript (from within the Print Dialogue) and run that through Distiller, so I guess I still need Adobe Acrobat. For some reason PDF’s created by OS X produce strange results or the printer rejects my file.
“The CEO of a company who sells half his stock…”
Idiot, he sold it for tax purposes. Spin it anyway you want it MacDolt, but we laugh at you.
Not only is MacDude an idiot (for propogating the fallacy that Jobs sold off half his stock), but it wasn’t an actual “sale.” Jobs simply gave back 4.5 million share to Apple, which will reduce the number of share in circulation (thus increasing the value of the outstanding shares). Apple will then hand over a check of the entire amount of the 4.5 million shares to the IRS for $295 million as a tax payment.
Not only did Jobs not receive a single penny as a result of this so-called “sale” but the U.S. treasury is now a quarter of a billion dollars richer.
Didn’t Apple license Adobe technologies for Quartz? Seems I recall stories to that effect, oh, 5 years ago.
This just in from MacDaily Windows news…..
Apple shares surge on report that Bill Gates has a hang nail.
Apple shares surge on heals of global warming.
Apple shares surge because of new Britney Spears statue.
Apple shares surge on news of rising gas prices.
Apple shares surge on news of falling gas prices.
Apple shares surge on war in Iraq.
Blah blah blah blah……
Nice to see Apple going up after crawliing downwards for weeks, that’s the real news and it’s got nothing to do with MS or EU.
So because MS is a monopoly, is it true then that they can only add things that follow open standards, or things that are truly innovative (no one else is doing)?
Apple shares surge on news confirming that MacDude is an idiot!
Mac Dude, you should really stick with what you know best. It’s not stocks. Then again, it’s not Macs…
CEOs sell stocks for many reasons. The most common is diversification of portfolio. You don’t want all your eggs in one basket, even if you control the direction of that basket.
Another reason, the one here, is that he sold to pay his taxes. Jobs is a billionaire, but he doesn’t sit around with billions of dollars in a checking account, or in a pile at home like Monty Burns. He’s got it in investments and in his AAPL stock. He chose to sell the AAPL to get the needed tax dollars.
Your constant negative spin on all things Apple have ruined your credibility around here. No one listens anymore because you look for anything bad to say. If you ever did have a valid opinion on something, none of us would listen because you are like Chicken Little.
Apple News Release: Apple invents printer that legally prints valid $50 bills.
Mac Dude: Boo Hoo – Apple sux because they can’t print $100 bills.
@ Ziggybop and others >
Quartz is indeed based on Adobe’s PDF technology – duly licensed, allegedly because Adobe wanted too much money from Apple to replicate the usage of Display Postscript that was in NeXTSTEP.
I don’t think Apple can be criticised for their incorporation of PDF technology as they use it – alongside OpenGL – to create OS X’s extraordinarily beautiful display model. It should also be noted that Apple’s Preview app makes Adobe’s Acrobat Reader look positively laggardly in terms of performance.
—-
As for MacDude’s latest trolling contribution: ignore it.
This is quite obviously someone who doesn’t understand facts or chooses deliberately to misrepresent them. Either way, he’s a waste of space and probably an example of why close relatives shouldn’t be allowed to marry.
As soon as Jobs exercised his options, the IRS extended its clawed hand and said, “Gimme my cut, or else.” That’s the law. It is a very standard thing to sell upon exercising to pay off the tax man. But for some fools, that gets in the way of their agenda, so they accuse Jobs of selling off about half of his stock.
“Microsoft wants to replace the PDF standard with their own proprietary format that only users of Microsoft software will be able to read, and to include this new format into Vista as a default option.”
So, sort of like Word and .doc?
“because MS is a monopoly, is it true then that they can only add things that follow open standards”
No. They have to sell it separately like all the rest of the developers do. The privilege of the monopoly means the loss of the privilege to ‘bundle’. Lose the monopoly or lose the practice of bundling.
MS would have been OK if they sold IE just like Netscape was sold. The problem is that Netscape had 80% market share and IE would never have won on a level playing field. So too, how can Adobe compete with their pay-per-user PDF if MS bundles their own PDF-clone (or whatever) free.
Jim
maybe its because MS is so entrenched into the enterprise/government and Apple is more consumer oriented…..?
There is a broader issue involved in this mess. The EU stuff is important, but more so, the tide is changing with regard to computing. Now, for most, computing equals M$. That is already changing to some degree. My prediction is that it will change very quickly within the next few years, though business will lag behind, naturally. People are relatively familiar with tech now. The key is useability, of which Apple dominates.
Approaching this from an investing perspective, Wallstreet likes competition– it creates opportunity for investment and growth (read: pure money making). Until recently, Apple has been kept alive as an alternative to M$, well… because it was the only commercial alternative and it has had a fan base that wouldn’t quit. This happened because Apple had potential– smart people, interesting stuff. Now, the potential is manifesting itself with the broader public. The growth that is occurring now is not artificial. Apple is delivering on all fronts. It continues to stand out with respect to its competitors.
Now that Apple is developing once again into a viable rival to M$, Wallstreet will love to grow AAPL, especially if M$ continues to flounder. Profits are the key. In the long run, they could use an Apple resurgence to bolster a return of M$ if they’re capable of such a thing.
Despite what is said about preventing price manipulation of stocks, it happens within the prescribed limits of the law. This is strategy. Investors have a strong interest in a healthy Apple. And now that Apple is actually healthy, things are good for tech and investors. This is a time to buy.
In the 90s, Apple was always discussed with a somber “every silver lining has a cloud” perspective. Now, it’s the other way around. Thankfully so.
Good times ahead, y’all. Good times.
This is a tad bit aside from the thread, sorry. Thanks for the read.
Is not the EU’s concern for Metro and MS locking it into their OS to the point that it does away with PDF?