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Comment by _1tem | Hacker News Reader

The unstable driver issue exactly why Apple should not make devices interoperable as the EU demands. If they comply with the EU demand and then the device performance is bad due to crappy third party integrations, consumers will blame Apple. If consumers can buy Apple devices everywhere except the EU they will blame the EU not Apple.

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Few die hards will maybe buy it abroad, most of them will just buy something from a competitor.

Anyway you could make exactly same argument for installation of 3rd party applications into the phone.

Few die hards? We have an actual case study: Russia. Apple does not sell in Russia anymore but market share has increased.

Here’s a comparison of iOS share in Russia (mobile OS) between August 2025 vs August 2023, using StatCounter data: • August 2025: iOS ~ 31.97 % • August 2023: iOS ~ 27 % (approximately) — StatCounter’s historical data shows iOS had around 26-28 % share in Russia in mid-2023

So between August 2023 and August 2025, iOS’s share in Russia appears to have increased by about 4–6 percentage points (from ~27% → ~32%).

As you see Apple is willing to chase money despite sanctions. If they would be serious, there would be 0% iOS devices in Russia, because we both know that iPhones can be remotely locked.

Now compare tiny Russian market to European market. Apple is making obvious empty bluff.

The Russian market is not tiny, it is literally the largest economy in Europe with the highest GDP per capita for 2025 when adjusted for PPP. It is also has the highest population in Europe.

If they can pull out of Russia and lose nothing why can’t they pull out of the EU?

Does not matter what is the size of Russian economy, but what are Apple revenues, which were around 1% of Apple's revenue. It is a tiny market.

If Apple doesn't sell in Russia anymore why does it still comply with Russian government's requests? https://uk.pcmag.com/vpn/154510/apple-complies-with-russian-...

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