It's not so much about the party in power as the, possibly illegal, fear and intimidation tactics used by one of the party leaders. In one case, the order could be challenged, would have resulted in a long court case to enforce and would have been widely unpopular with voters. As I recall, the police found another way to obtain the information. In the other, legal channels were ignored and Apple was threatened with actions that would have seriously affected it's ability to compete. It was a choice between complying or losing many billions of dollars in revenue a year and losing much more in value. Without its current US market share, which is about 40% of total revenue, Apple would have faced serious business issues.

 

What actions was Apple threatened with? The wannabe-fascists threatened the app's author and CNN for reporting on the existence of the app, but I'm only aware of the DOJ's (and having "justice" in their name is now a farce) request to Apple to take the app down.

 

The wannabe's 50% tariff threats for starters. Apple needs the good will of the current administration and its government agencies to avoid other actions and to obtain regulatory approvals. The big issue is the unpredictability of what will happen next. Despite its value, which is mostly due to stockholder confidence, Apple cannot afford the damage from such a fight.

 

The tariff threats were to force Apple to build more manufacturing facilities in the United States. If the fascists want to abridge Apple's First Amendment rights, make them announce their threats explicitly.

 

The tariff threats were to force Apple to build more manufacturing facilities in the United States.

Tariffs are far from the best way to do that and hardly anyone but the uneducated and naive would think they are. Facilities to build modern high tech devices such as smartphones take five years or more to design and build. Then they have to find skilled employees to maintain the facilities and do the work. By then, 50% tariffs would have crippled Apple.

The sad fact is that the US does not have the skilled workers to do so nor the technology and infrastructure to make the high tech machinery that produces parts for smartphones nor access to the mineral resources required and the expertise to refine them. Even Intel has to purchase its fabs from Taiwan or Europe and many of the rare minerals required are produced only by China.

The current administration is making things even worse by defunding education at every level and driving up costs for US industries. The US is falling behind Taiwan and China because of their emphasis on funding research and education while the US is cutting education and research. US innovation is driven by academic research and relatively few highly trained employees. China can mobilize millions of engineers and researchers almost overnight. The US doesn't have anywhere near that many qualified workers and is crippling the schools that could help train them. It's also blocking access to immigrants that already have the required skills.

 

I agree with your points and would add the U.S. does (or, more accurately now, did) not have an authoritarian-style of government who can make/break laws in order to "get things done". Just finished a book called "Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company" by Patrick McGee which was fascinating. Anyone who thinks China just has factory-worker jobs while the U.S. is keeping the high-value creative/technical jobs (as many multinational companies would like people to believe) is in for a rude awakening. The book makes a compelling case for Apple being significantly responsible for making China the manufacturing powerhouse that it currently is.

 

I agree. Another difference between the US and China is that the Chinese government is largely comprised of engineers and the US is (or was) mostly comprised of lawyers. China isn't as concerned about legalities, it just gets things done. The US is hampered by legal issues which tend to make everything slower and more costly. The US appears to be abandoning both and now seems to be controlled by people who are educated by social media, want unlimited power and don't care about the law or good engineering. They just want to be tech billionaires or social media influencers. Good luck building an industrial recovery with those skills.