Same Playbook, Different Department

Part of the ongoing Big Tech's War on Users series. AppleInsider had a piece yesterday framing Apple's Services business as being in real trouble. A 10-Q filing warns that alternative distribution and external payment links "may earn a lower commission" or "may not earn a commission at all." Sensor Tower says U.S. App Store spending fell 6% year-over-year last quarter, versus 9% growth the year before. Appfigures puts U.S. commission revenue down 18% so far this year. The framing is basically: regulators are slowly bleeding Apple's most profitable arm dry. My first reaction was the obvious one — cry me a river over a business that still pulled $30.74 billion in Services revenue last quarter alone. But then I started thinking through what the "easy fix" actually looks like from Apple's side, and it turns out we already have the receipts on how that plays out. Spoiler: it's not the relief people think it is. Just Let Them Exist, Right? The obvious counterargument to Apple's sob story…