The EU hates anything that looks, feels, or walks like a monopoly, especially if it is not controlled by a European company. Students of recent business history will remember that the EU shut down GE’s (GE) attempt to take over Honeywell. The EU has also been especially hard on Microsoft’s (MSFT) bundling software likes its Windows Media Player into its operating systems.
Now, it Apple’s turn to run the EU gauntlet. The European Union consumer chief Meglena Kuneva thinks that the bundling of Apple’s iPod with its iTune software is bad for music aficionados on the Continent. "Do you think it’s fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don’t. Something has to change," EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Kuneva.
Well, that seems plain enough.
Apple has to battle the perception that as iPod sales growth begins to slow, its new iPhone and Macs can help keep the entire company moving ahead at full speed. The market obviously has its doubts about whether Apple is still a "hot" company. Its stock trades where its did three months ago despite excitement about the iPhone.
One of the unpleasant aspects of antitrust probes is that, once they start in one region in the world, they often spread to others. In this case, if that means Asia and the US, Apple may have a rough year.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected] He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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