Apple is investing $ 1.9 billion in EU infrastructure. What is it, expansion to Europe or escape from the USA?
A recent statement by Apple CEO, Tim Cook, about plans to invest in the construction of two new data centers in Europe has become very significant not only for the corporation itself, but for the entire IT world. It's not even so much in the size of the facilities, according to the plan, each of the two identical data centers will accommodate almost 15.5 thousand square meters, and not in the budget of this enterprise, an impressive $ 1.9 billion is allocated for construction. There are reasons, and some more profound ones, there are intertwined economics, politics, moral tendencies of society, the notorious Edward Snowden and several attendant factors, but let's get this in order.
Apple Inc. is one of the recognized world leaders in the IT field. With only 80 thousand employees, it has a rich network of representative offices around the world. Not the first day as it is represented in Europe and the representation is very significant, about 18.3 thousand employees only in the EU countries. But besides the superficial composite - a wide network of Apple Store, service centers, the company also has the underwater part of the iceberg hidden from the man in the street. It is over the same about the network infrastructure, the giant data transfer and storage nodes - data centers, which are now located mainly in the United States. According to the recently announced Tim Cook plan, by 2017 the European continent will grow with two new data centers; under the existing project, they will be the largest among the existing IT nodes outside the US. At the same time, two countries were presented in which significant investments will be made, one of the data center will be located in Ireland, the second will be Denmark.
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The choice of a corporation fell on both of these countries for a reason, and there are reasons for this. As you know, Apple employees have always focused public attention on the fact that they are the most advanced company, both from a technical point of view and from the point of view of social trends. All of the corporation's existing data centers are built on the basis of green technologies - renewable energy sources, of course, these data centers are connected to existing power plants, but virtually all of the electricity they consume is offset by solar power plants. If we consider the future sites located in the northern part of Europe, in terms of efficiency, they are very promising. Considering the very cold climate of countries washing from all sides with the cold waters of the seas and oceans, it will be possible, without extra costs, to organize atmospheric cooling of IT equipment for most of the year, thereby reducing CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere to a minimum.
If we discard such an obvious factor in choosing Europe as a candidate for owning two data centers, as the steadily increasing number of users of Apple services in the Old World, and a fairly good connectivity of the region, we should not forget the specifics of the top management of the corporation of its business.
Around Apple, scandals and wines of this systematic, not even heavily veiled, bias from taxation in countries where apple products are produced and sold have been around for many years. In this sense, Ireland and Denmark also became an excellent choice for further business expansion in designated countries. Liberal legislation, low taxes, the possibility for a multi-billion dollar company will always agree on favorable terms with the government of a small, not too spoiled investment of the country, this is a very important factor. Especially important for not too clean in the introduction of the economic activity of Apple. If, however, in more detail to pay attention to Ireland, then it turns out she and in general is a pan-European "offshore". For this reason, the brainchild of Steve Jobs has been closely cooperating with this country for decades, moving away from "draconian" interest rates in the United States. Using highly exciting schemes with dummy affiliates, which may surprise experienced economists from the post-Soviet space. Through such actions, the corporation has reduced its tax losses to a minimum. But even in a tax haven there are thunderstorms, and after recent trials by European financial control authorities in the activities of one of the leaders of the global IT market, an investment of nearly two billion dollars announced by the European IT market may be a factor that will help melt the cold hearts of the harsh European officials.
A lot of people note the peculiarity that the rebellious spirit of Steve Jobs, incorporated into the company at its foundation, accompanies her to this day. It is difficult to disagree with this statement, because it can be traced both in the innovative ideas of the company, its products, and the philosophy of its very existence. Avoiding taxes - as a protest against state authorities, investing in renewable energy sources - like avoiding momentary profits in favor of preserving the planet’s ecosystem for future generations, all this gives rise to the ideals of the hippie generation, at times at Woodstock festivals.
But what doesn’t fit into this idyllic picture is that the accusations that are systematic and rather annoying for Apple’s reputation for its very close cooperation with various US security structures, including the notorious NSA.
The revelations of Edward Snowden, who revealed the involvement of US intelligence agencies in systematic, comprehensive cooperation with IT companies, often stepping over all written and unwritten laws, caused the undeveloped bomb without underplaying, jeopardizing the reputation of the "peacekeeper" companies. The flagship of the market, such as Apple, which has so ardently positioned its equipment and the services provided as being particularly protected from external interference, was no exception. In fact, by becoming a tool of surveillance in the hands of unscrupulous officials over consumers of Apple devices, trademark loyalists expected the company to take concrete steps to correct this state of affairs. Apple’s executive director-announced plans to promote its infrastructure in Europe, which are not subject to US jurisdiction, were perceived by ordinary consumers as a good signal. Particularly well, Tim Cook himself said this in his, we can say symbolic, speech, speaking not somewhere else, but in the heart of the State Department - the White House.
“When it comes to the rights of consumers and citizens, we are talking about understanding and respecting basic human values. Our clients trust us with their personal data, the most personal information and expect us to maximize its protection, which, from a technical point of view, we can easily provide. But we, as well as other market participants, do not have such a legal opportunity that we need to get. History shows us that even pursuing the brightest goals, putting basic human freedoms on the altar of the state, we can go very far and have terrible consequences. ”
After this kind of statements, you can not help looking at a different light on the history of six months ago with UIG (Unique Infrastructure Group) purchasing an unfinished data center on Curaçao - a small piece of land in the southern part of the Caribbean. Since UIG is working very closely with Apple, the corporation is its main partner and customer, a strong opinion has emerged that the de facto erected data center, through a dummy firm, will be used solely as part of the “apple” infrastructure. The lack of destructive hurricanes in this part of the Carib, while having very good Internet connectivity with the world, the main underwater highways connecting North, Central and South America pass through the island, and the highlight of this confusing situation lies in the very status of the island. De jure being under the control of the Netherlands, and accordingly being in the legal field of this very liberal country, the island, by the characteristics of its autonomous status, is de facto an offshore territory. Attempt at writing?
As you can see, from the latest statements and actions of Apple’s management, their intentions are becoming more pronounced and acquire specific features. This is not an empty PR, it is a statement of its principles, supported by concrete steps - almost a two-billion-dollar budget. Naturally, it is too early to say that Apple, with such a position, will be at the head of the exodus from the American IT market of other corporations, but the situation may well come to this. Giants such as Google, AWS, Facebook, which are very closely tied to the accumulation and storage of all sorts of personal data of hundreds of millions of people working in this field, are extremely interested in the image of the uncompromising guardian of basic freedoms of even the most "simple" client, and who will take on time over this role has a chance to get the maximum benefit. Indeed, in the conditions of tough competition of products and services that interact with our personal data, real guarantees of non-disclosure of these data can be for any of the existing companies a decisive factor in the struggle for leadership in different segments of the IT market.
Apple Inc. is one of the recognized world leaders in the IT field. With only 80 thousand employees, it has a rich network of representative offices around the world. Not the first day as it is represented in Europe and the representation is very significant, about 18.3 thousand employees only in the EU countries. But besides the superficial composite - a wide network of Apple Store, service centers, the company also has the underwater part of the iceberg hidden from the man in the street. It is over the same about the network infrastructure, the giant data transfer and storage nodes - data centers, which are now located mainly in the United States. According to the recently announced Tim Cook plan, by 2017 the European continent will grow with two new data centers; under the existing project, they will be the largest among the existing IT nodes outside the US. At the same time, two countries were presented in which significant investments will be made, one of the data center will be located in Ireland, the second will be Denmark.
')
The choice of a corporation fell on both of these countries for a reason, and there are reasons for this. As you know, Apple employees have always focused public attention on the fact that they are the most advanced company, both from a technical point of view and from the point of view of social trends. All of the corporation's existing data centers are built on the basis of green technologies - renewable energy sources, of course, these data centers are connected to existing power plants, but virtually all of the electricity they consume is offset by solar power plants. If we consider the future sites located in the northern part of Europe, in terms of efficiency, they are very promising. Considering the very cold climate of countries washing from all sides with the cold waters of the seas and oceans, it will be possible, without extra costs, to organize atmospheric cooling of IT equipment for most of the year, thereby reducing CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere to a minimum.
If we discard such an obvious factor in choosing Europe as a candidate for owning two data centers, as the steadily increasing number of users of Apple services in the Old World, and a fairly good connectivity of the region, we should not forget the specifics of the top management of the corporation of its business.
Around Apple, scandals and wines of this systematic, not even heavily veiled, bias from taxation in countries where apple products are produced and sold have been around for many years. In this sense, Ireland and Denmark also became an excellent choice for further business expansion in designated countries. Liberal legislation, low taxes, the possibility for a multi-billion dollar company will always agree on favorable terms with the government of a small, not too spoiled investment of the country, this is a very important factor. Especially important for not too clean in the introduction of the economic activity of Apple. If, however, in more detail to pay attention to Ireland, then it turns out she and in general is a pan-European "offshore". For this reason, the brainchild of Steve Jobs has been closely cooperating with this country for decades, moving away from "draconian" interest rates in the United States. Using highly exciting schemes with dummy affiliates, which may surprise experienced economists from the post-Soviet space. Through such actions, the corporation has reduced its tax losses to a minimum. But even in a tax haven there are thunderstorms, and after recent trials by European financial control authorities in the activities of one of the leaders of the global IT market, an investment of nearly two billion dollars announced by the European IT market may be a factor that will help melt the cold hearts of the harsh European officials.
A lot of people note the peculiarity that the rebellious spirit of Steve Jobs, incorporated into the company at its foundation, accompanies her to this day. It is difficult to disagree with this statement, because it can be traced both in the innovative ideas of the company, its products, and the philosophy of its very existence. Avoiding taxes - as a protest against state authorities, investing in renewable energy sources - like avoiding momentary profits in favor of preserving the planet’s ecosystem for future generations, all this gives rise to the ideals of the hippie generation, at times at Woodstock festivals.
But what doesn’t fit into this idyllic picture is that the accusations that are systematic and rather annoying for Apple’s reputation for its very close cooperation with various US security structures, including the notorious NSA.
The revelations of Edward Snowden, who revealed the involvement of US intelligence agencies in systematic, comprehensive cooperation with IT companies, often stepping over all written and unwritten laws, caused the undeveloped bomb without underplaying, jeopardizing the reputation of the "peacekeeper" companies. The flagship of the market, such as Apple, which has so ardently positioned its equipment and the services provided as being particularly protected from external interference, was no exception. In fact, by becoming a tool of surveillance in the hands of unscrupulous officials over consumers of Apple devices, trademark loyalists expected the company to take concrete steps to correct this state of affairs. Apple’s executive director-announced plans to promote its infrastructure in Europe, which are not subject to US jurisdiction, were perceived by ordinary consumers as a good signal. Particularly well, Tim Cook himself said this in his, we can say symbolic, speech, speaking not somewhere else, but in the heart of the State Department - the White House.
“When it comes to the rights of consumers and citizens, we are talking about understanding and respecting basic human values. Our clients trust us with their personal data, the most personal information and expect us to maximize its protection, which, from a technical point of view, we can easily provide. But we, as well as other market participants, do not have such a legal opportunity that we need to get. History shows us that even pursuing the brightest goals, putting basic human freedoms on the altar of the state, we can go very far and have terrible consequences. ”
After this kind of statements, you can not help looking at a different light on the history of six months ago with UIG (Unique Infrastructure Group) purchasing an unfinished data center on Curaçao - a small piece of land in the southern part of the Caribbean. Since UIG is working very closely with Apple, the corporation is its main partner and customer, a strong opinion has emerged that the de facto erected data center, through a dummy firm, will be used solely as part of the “apple” infrastructure. The lack of destructive hurricanes in this part of the Carib, while having very good Internet connectivity with the world, the main underwater highways connecting North, Central and South America pass through the island, and the highlight of this confusing situation lies in the very status of the island. De jure being under the control of the Netherlands, and accordingly being in the legal field of this very liberal country, the island, by the characteristics of its autonomous status, is de facto an offshore territory. Attempt at writing?
As you can see, from the latest statements and actions of Apple’s management, their intentions are becoming more pronounced and acquire specific features. This is not an empty PR, it is a statement of its principles, supported by concrete steps - almost a two-billion-dollar budget. Naturally, it is too early to say that Apple, with such a position, will be at the head of the exodus from the American IT market of other corporations, but the situation may well come to this. Giants such as Google, AWS, Facebook, which are very closely tied to the accumulation and storage of all sorts of personal data of hundreds of millions of people working in this field, are extremely interested in the image of the uncompromising guardian of basic freedoms of even the most "simple" client, and who will take on time over this role has a chance to get the maximum benefit. Indeed, in the conditions of tough competition of products and services that interact with our personal data, real guarantees of non-disclosure of these data can be for any of the existing companies a decisive factor in the struggle for leadership in different segments of the IT market.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/256967/
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