Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is holding back evolved Text messaging by not incorporating the “industry standard” on iMessage, a Google executive said Monday.
Lockheimer said RCS was important because “Phone number-based messaging is the fallback that we all know will work.”
The Google executive touted the benefits of RCS on Twitter and said, by not incorporating it, “Apple is holding back the industry” as well as “user experience” for both Android and iPhone users.
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Why It Matters: Lockheimer took a more conciliatory tone towards the end of the thread and said “we’re happy to work with Apple to make RCS interop a reality.”
Over the weekend, Lockheimer had tweeted about Apple’s iMessage “lock-in” as a documented strategy.
“Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. The standards exist today to fix this.”
“In the absence of a strategy to become the primary messaging service for [the] bulk of cell phone users, I am concerned the iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones,” wrote Apple’s chief software executive Craig Federighi in a 2013 email, reported the Journal.
Another Apple executive reportedly told colleagues in an email that “iMessage amounts to serious lock-in.”
Price Action: On Monday, Apple shares closed mostly unchanged at $172.19 in the regular session. The shares rose 0.4% in the after-hours session. On the same day, Alphabet Class A shares rose 1.2% to $2,773.39 in the regular session. The company’s Class C shares ended Monday’s regular session 1.15% higher at $2,771.48.
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