Why are Facebook and Apple so envious of each other?

Big market players like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Boeing and Airbus, McDonald’s and Burger King have one thing in common: competing in the same business. That is also why the battle between Facebook and Apple has become so intriguing. Both are big tech companies and that is the only similarity between them.

Almost all of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising, but ads make up only a small portion of Apple’s revenue, where the majority comes from device sales and the App Store business. Therefore, these two tech giants don’t really compete with each other, they simply don’t like each other.

For years, Apple’s Tim Cook has said that Facebook sees its users as a product to monetize their ads and ignore their privacy. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg said that Apple products are very expensive and that it has an implicit motive to criticize Facebook.

Last year, according to the New York Times, Apple even cut out Facebook’s developer tools.

The latest chapter in a battle between the two companies that took place last week has made the relationship even worse.

Rub salt into the wound

Earlier this year, Apple announced it would introduce App Tracking Transparency to give people greater control over their data.

It’s important that customers can choose which of their data – previously handed over by default – will be used by apps like Facebook.

That’s a big deal for Facebook, which sells targeted ads for lucrative profits. Facebook says openly that this will damage their company’s business.

However, Apple has postponed the proposed changes until next year, so that developers have time to prepare. In a letter outlining why change was delayed last week, Apple’s Jane Hovarth was unable to stop commenting on Zuckerberg’s company: “ Facebook executives have made it clear their intentions are Collect as much data as possible. This disregard for user privacy continues to expand . ”

Facebook retorted: ” They are using their dominant market position to prioritize their own data collection, while making it nearly impossible for their competitors to use the same data set. They claim it’s about privacy – but it’s about profit .

It’s like rubbing salt in the wound for Apple, which prides itself on its belief that it has a higher business model than Facebook.

Since 2010, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs has warned Facebook about privacy. And in 2018, Mr. Cook, the current chief executive officer of Apple, said that he may have followed Facebook, using the data to sell ads but ” we decided not to .”

One of the most popular TV commercials in the US this fall is Apple’s privacy campaign. In the advertisement, many people uttered the embarrassing things they searched the internet for random strangers. The ad’s tagline was: ” Some things you shouldn’t share – iPhone helps you keep it private .”

So Apple clearly believes that privacy is everyone’s own, and it would be odd if Apple undermines this belief, as Facebook accuses it.

Not fair to the developers

However, many political parties have described Apple as a monopoly. The company is taking a series of legal actions, after being accused of abusing its App Store to impose unfair terms on developers.

And then there are accusations that they are not paying enough tax on profits, which Apple has denied.

The privacy and purity argument certainly doesn’t work in Zuckerberg’s favor.

In 2014, when Cook first publicly criticized Facebook for treating his customers as a product, the Facebook CEO countered, telling Time magazine: “ I’m disappointed that more and more people are growing. equate an advertising business model that is somehow inappropriate for your customers. What do you think, because you are paying Apple that somehow you match them? If you match them, they will make their product a lot cheaper . ”

And perhaps he is right because Apple is one of the richest companies in the world.

Strange war

Even more strange about this mutual contempt is the dependence of the two companies on each other. The iPhone will be less attractive to many customers if Facebook (along with WhatsApp and Instagram) is not available on their phones. Conversely, would people look for other social networking platforms if they can’t use Facebook on the iPhone?

Having a healthy and strong working relationship is a plausible prospect for both companies, but it doesn’t happen.

Apple expert Carolina Milanesi is one of many who believe that the two companies see the world differently and their feud is cultural and personal.

” Philosophically, they are very different, ” she said . When you’re looking at Apple, if the company feels aversion to how Facebook is behaving against its customers, then why are we including Facebook as an app on Apple devices? ”

And that is the crux of the matter. So far, this is how the two companies are not getting along. But it’s a fake war: indeed, the relationship between the two companies is symbiotic.

However, what Apple is currently proposing is not fake. Apple’s privacy obsession is not a good beacon for Facebook. Apple’s new rules will hurt this social network.

Of all the pairs of rivals likely to happen in the major tech sector, Facebook and Apple seem the least likely. Google is an obvious competitor to Facebook; and Microsoft and Google are Apple’s. But privacy issues have sparked a nagging war between Facebook and Apple.

The year 2021 will likely see the rage of competition that is still lingering.