Europe

Joseph Stiglitz, an economic professor at Columbia University and 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, has described Apple's tax arrangements in Ireland as "a fraud" in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV."Here we have the largest corporation in capitalization not only in America, but in the world, bigger than GM was at its peak, and claiming that most of its profits...

A decision in the European Commission probe of Apple's alleged "sweetheart tax deal" in Ireland is expected to be reached by September or October, according to Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan (via Reuters)."Commissioner Vestager indicated to me that there wouldn't be a decision in July but there would probably be a decision early in the autumn. My expectation is September or early...

Apple quietly updated the "choose your country" selector on its website a few weeks ago in the United Kingdom and other European countries, adding Euro 2016 country groups and a bracket to celebrate the ongoing football tournament in France. Apple also temporarily added a handful of countries and regions that it does not have regional websites for, including Albania, Iceland, Northern...

T-Mobile has announced a new promotion that will offer postpaid customers free unlimited high-speed data, at up to 4G LTE speeds, in all European countries, except Andorra, between July 1 and August 31 of this year. The carrier noted that customers will receive the highest available data speeds depending on where they are traveling in Europe, while text messaging is free worldwide and calls...

Apple, Google, McDonald's, and IKEA representatives will be in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss their tax deals in Europe, reports Reuters. The hearing will be hosted by the European Parliament's tax committee, but the lawmakers do not have the power to order any changes, according to the report. Nevertheless, the meeting should raise some important questions about each company's compliance with ...

A decision in the European Commission's probe of Apple's tax affairs in Ireland may not be reached soon, according to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager (via Bloomberg).“Don’t hold your breath,” she told reporters in Brussels on Monday about the timing of decisions targeting Apple and online shopping giant Amazon.com Inc, whose tax affairs in Luxembourg are also under intense scrutiny. ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to Europe this week to meet with European Commission antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in Brussels on Thursday, before heading to Rome on Friday to meet Pope Francis and Italian developers. Cook first met with Vestager to lobby against an European tax investigation that could force the iPhone and iPad maker to pay more than $8 billion in back taxes on overseas...

Apple is now accepting iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in-store reservations through its Reserve and Pickup program in six European countries where the smartphones are set to launch this Friday, October 9, including Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus reservations on Apple Online Store in Switzerland European customers can select an iPhone ...

T-Mobile has announced the expansion of its Simple Global coverage to an additional 20 countries to now cover all of Europe and South America. Simple Global is now available in the Bahamas and 145 total countries worldwide, covering more than 90% of the areas that Americans travel abroad each year. Simple Global provides Simple Choice postpaid customers with unlimited low-speed data and...

Apple has set higher prices for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in Canada, Australia and other countries to reflect a strengthening U.S. dollar and fluctuating currency exchange rates. The off-contract prices for the iPhone 6s Plus in Canada, for example, are $1,029, $1,159 and $1,289 CAD for 16GB, 64GB and 128GB of storage space respectively. Comparatively, the iPhone 6 Plus cost $969,...

Irish software development studio Probendi is suing Apple in a Milan court for using its "iWatch" trademark in Europe as part of a Google AdWords campaign, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been paying for sponsored links on Google in an attempt to redirect users that search for "iWatch" to the Apple Watch website, in order to avoid missing out on customers that search for the wrong product name.“App...

While the high-end 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display was discounted from $2,499 to $2,299 today, Apple has raised the prices on several other products in Europe and Canada as the U.S. dollar continues to remain strong against the euro and other international currencies. The affected countries in the European Union include Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Finland and...

Yesterday, we noted that Australian regulators are targeting Apple over its "misleading" marketing of the new iPad as a "4G" device in the country despite the fact that the device is incompatible with LTE networks being rolled out there. In response, Apple has offered refunds to customers who feel they were misled by the marketing. Concerns over the 4G marketing are now getting the...