Apple's reversal on RCS wasn't forced by the EU, but likely by China, whose government began codifying in 2023 a requirement for new 5G devices to support RCS
We've had pretty obvious hints since early September that iMessage and Bing would be considered exempt from “gatekeeper” status, and thus exempt from the DMA.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already committed to adopting RCS through a future software update, ending its previous resistance to the cross-platform messaging standard.
That commitment arrived as EU scrutiny appeared less likely to be decisive: reporting indicated iMessage was likely to be excluded from DMA gatekeeper rules. The China-based explanation therefore reframes the move as device-market compliance rather than a concession to European platform regulation.
First-order effects
- Apple’s RCS support becomes tied, at least in part, to accommodating a Chinese requirement for new 5G devices rather than to a DMA mandate.
- iMessage can retain its separate service position while Messages adds RCS for Android-to-iPhone exchanges, because the reported requirement concerns support for the standard.
Second-order effects
- The distinction weakens the case that EU gatekeeper designation alone determines messaging interoperability: product decisions can be driven by national device rules even when a service is exempt from DMA obligations.
- RCS support becomes a compliance consideration for 5G device vendors serving China, increasing the practical value of a common messaging baseline across handset ecosystems.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern persists, large device markets may shape global software defaults through hardware-market requirements, alongside—and sometimes more directly than—platform-focused competition rules.
- Messaging interoperability may increasingly emerge from overlapping national compliance regimes rather than a single regulator’s gatekeeper framework, though the relative influence of each regime will vary by market.
The trend: Device-access rules in major national markets are becoming a parallel lever for changing platform interoperability and product standards.