Apple Flash Handling Catches the EU’s Attention

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It seems that Apple has more answering to do as the European Union decided to also investigate Apple’s Thoughts on Flash. That’s definitely an interesting turn of events especially since Flash for mobile devices has just been demoed on by Adobe on the Droid 2, the first smartphone coming with Flash 10.1 pre-installed right out of the box.

The European Union joins the FTC, which is already investigating Apple on the same matter and the fight between Apple and Adobe has just gotten a lot more interesting. The European Union’s involvement, although not made public yet is an important milestone for both Adobe and Apple. While the investigation is not official just yet, I don’t think the EU will rule in favor of Apple on this one.

Remember how the EU forced Microsoft to offer a browser choice to European Windows users? Well the same thing might happen with Apple as the EU might force Apple to allow users to develop Flash-based apps for the App Store. Because that’s probably all it can do at this point, especially considering that Apple is not the king of the mobile empire and thus it’s not really hurting competition when choosing not to support Flash on its iOS devices.

But while Apple might be forced to change its App Store terms and conditions again, that doesn’t mean it will be forced to approve all those apps that will take advantage of Adobe’s mobile programming technologies. As for actual Flash support on iOS devices, that can’t be imposed, can it? Apple will keep defending its decision by proving, in its own way, that Flash on mobile iOS devices will harm the overall user experience.

Enough speculation for one day especially since there’s no official notice from the EU yet! In case the investigation does proceed, we’ll hear more about it in 4 to 6 months. In the mean time we’re also waiting for the FTC to rule on the same matter.