Apple announced at its WWDC 2024 event a bundle of AI-powered tools coming with iOS 18 for its Apple devices. Now that it has officially been revealed that it is not bringing Apple Intelligence features to nearly 450 million people in the EU, this means that Samsung Galaxy AI will be more prioritized in European markets.
Apple Confirms Apple Intelligence Absence for 450 Million in EU
The report says that Apple is delaying the launch of its new AI-powered tools, titled Apple Intelligence, in the European Union. The reason behind this delay seems to be concerns regarding complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This act aspires to boost competition in the tech industry and has already pushed Apple to make changes, for instance, by adopting USB-C charging ports and potentially permitting alternative app stores. This pointed out that approximately half a billion EU users will not receive Apple Intelligence for now.
The Korean brand Samsung is playing the lead role in European markets since it already made its Galaxy AI features available to European Galaxy users with the One UI 6.1 update. Now again, the giant is launching next gen Galaxy AI with the upcoming Galaxy foldables to boost more powerful features than the first generation. Whereas Apple is delaying its AI features, titled Apple Intelligence in Europe for the iPhone 16, this could be a great chance for Samsung’s foldable sales compared to its rival Apple.
Regarding this, the brand stated, “We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security.” However, another report from the Financial Times says that Apple said this would not be a lifelong policy.
Apple believes in complying with the DMA and might need to open this AI to rivals such as Android, making it less profitable. Noticeably, the two other features launched at WWDC, including iPhone mirroring and SharePlay screen sharing, will also apparently not land in the EU. It has yet to be clear that these features could be negatively impacted by the DMA. This report will be an efficient issue for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in the EU. Remember: the second half of Apple’s entire WWDC keynote was dedicated to Apple AI.
