SSPAI Morning Brief: Apple Accelerates CEO Succession Planning

Morning Brief Highlights

Apple accelerates CEO succession planning
“Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms” released for public comment
OpenAI fixes ChatGPT’s em-dash overuse issue
Europe to begin taxing low-value Chinese e-commerce parcels ahead of schedule
iOS 26 flaw allows modification of system files to unlock disabled feature
Huaqiangbei storage product prices surge
Apple Beijing Huiju store opening soon
Just Some Rumors to Glance At

Apple Accelerates CEO Succession Planning

According to the Financial Times, Apple is accelerating its CEO succession plan. Several people familiar with the discussions revealed that Tim Cook may step down as early as next year. John Ternus, the current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, is widely seen as the most likely successor, though Apple has yet to make a final decision.

Reports indicate that Apple’s board and senior executives have recently intensified preparations for Cook’s transition. Sources emphasized that this succession planning has been underway for years and is unrelated to Apple’s current performance. Cook, who just turned 65 this month, has led Apple for more than 14 years since taking over from Steve Jobs in 2011. During Cook’s tenure, Apple’s market capitalization has risen from around $350 billion in 2011 to today’s $4 trillion.

Apple’s executive team has seen several major changes this year, including the departure of Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri earlier in the year and the announced exit of Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams. Cook has previously stated that he prefers an internal candidate to succeed him. Apple declined to comment on its succession plans.

“Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms” released for public comment

On November 15, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms (Draft for Public Comment) and opened it for public feedback. The deadline for submitting opinions is November 29, 2025.

SAMR stated that in recent years, the platform economy has developed rapidly, with internet platforms exhibiting strong network effects. Enforcement practice shows that antitrust risks in the platform economy are frequent, and businesses have expressed a need for compliance guidance. In response, SAMR drafted the Guidelines. The document refines the Anti-Monopoly Law but is not legally binding, serving instead as general guidance.

The Guidelines identify four major categories of antitrust risks. Concerning monopoly agreements, it prohibits horizontal agreements between platform operators (such as price fixing or market division) and vertical agreements with trading partners (such as fixing resale prices). It specifically highlights the risks of using algorithms to facilitate coordinated behavior.

Regarding abuse of market dominance, the Guidelines outline the factors for determining whether a platform holds a dominant position (such as market share, control capability, user dependence, and entry barriers). They prohibit dominant platforms from engaging in unfair high or low pricing (e.g., charging excessively high commissions), below-cost sales (such as unjustified excessive subsidies), refusal to deal (e.g., delisting products, restricting traffic, blocking accounts), exclusive dealings (“choose one of two”), tying or imposing unreasonable conditions (such as forcing “lowest price on the entire internet” or mandatory collection of unnecessary user data), and discriminatory practices (such as “personalized price discrimination based on big data”).

The Guidelines also note that concentrations meeting the declaration thresholds must be filed in advance, and platforms should avoid participating in monopoly behaviors encouraged or coordinated by administrative authorities.

To manage these risks, the Guidelines require platforms to establish a full-chain risk prevention system covering pre-event, ongoing, and post-event compliance management. They emphasize reviewing platform rules and screening algorithms to ensure algorithm transparency and explainability, avoiding “black-box algorithms.” The document also outlines compliance assurance mechanisms, including establishing compliance management bodies and implementing reporting, training, and assessment systems.

OpenAI fixes ChatGPT’s em-dash overuse issue

On November 15, OpenAI announced through its official Threads account that it has fixed ChatGPT’s issue of excessively using em dashes. For a long time, overuse of the em dash has been widely regarded as an effective indicator of AI-generated text. CEO Sam Altman confirmed the update in a post on X, calling the fix “a small win, but a nice one.”

Although em dashes are a perfectly legitimate punctuation mark and have been widely used in serious writing such as literature and academic work, many AI models have struggled to restrain their tendency to overuse them, making the symbol a recent target of widespread criticism. Over the past few months, numerous academic papers, emails, ad copy, and online comments have been criticized for their “ChatGPT-style em dashes.” Even when users explicitly requested “no em dashes” in prompts, ChatGPT would stubbornly use them anyway.

This update does not mean that ChatGPT will stop using em dashes by default. According to Altman, users need to explicitly request this in their personalized settings under Custom Instructions.

Europe to begin taxing low-value Chinese e-commerce parcels ahead of schedule

According to the Financial Times, EU finance ministers reached an agreement on November 13 to accelerate a plan aimed at curbing cheap imports from China. Beginning in early 2026, the EU will impose tariffs on small parcels from e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu, and Alibaba, in an effort to protect domestic retailers from unfair competition. This timeline is more than two years earlier than originally planned.

Under the agreement, the EU will formally abolish the current €150 duty-free threshold for imported goods by mid-2028. Before that, starting in early 2026, a temporary tariff will first be introduced. Two diplomats revealed that this temporary tariff will likely take the form of a fixed fee, as customs systems would otherwise be overwhelmed if required to process the correct tax rate for each individual item.

The EU’s economics commissioner noted that in 2024, imports of such low-value parcels reached 4.6 billion items, 91% of which came from China. In a letter to national ministers, the EU trade commissioner called this move a crucial step toward ensuring Europe’s competitiveness and providing fair conditions for businesses. The Dutch finance minister similarly stated that the EU needs to regulate the influx of cheap Chinese parcels.

Back in August of this year, Trump also issued an executive order suspending the U.S. de minimis trade rule entirely. Previously, the U.S. threshold had been raised from $200 to $800 during the Obama administration, making it one of the highest duty-free limits in the world.

In response to the EU’s actions, China’s ambassador to the EU, Cai Run, warned against the rise of trade politicization and protectionism, calling for dialogue to resolve frictions. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it hopes the EU will provide Chinese companies with a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment.

iOS 26 flaw allows modification of system files to unlock disabled feature

Recently, researcher Hana Kim disclosed a vulnerability found in iOS 26.2 Beta 1 and earlier versions. By exploiting this flaw, attackers can modify files under the usually protected /private/var/ directory, thereby enabling various Apple-disabled or hidden features.

According to Hana Kim, the vulnerability is made possible because the iBooks daemon bookassetd possesses elevated write permissions but does not strictly validate target write paths. Meanwhile, the iTunes Store daemon itunesstored can control bookassetd by writing files—yet itunesstored itself can be influenced by files writable by ordinary users.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker can first use standard device management software to write a specially crafted SQLite file instructing itunesstored to pass another specially crafted SQLite file—disguised as an EPUB e-book—to bookassetd. bookassetd then follows the instructions and overwrites other specified system files, effectively achieving sandbox escape.

Multiple tools such as Misaka and Nugget—used to unlock Apple’s disabled or hidden features—have announced plans to support iOS 26 based on this vulnerability. These tools work by modifying system files through the exploit. Previously, many of their features became unusable after a key exploit, TrollStore, was patched in iOS 18.2. Developer Duy Tran has even demonstrated enabling iPadOS-exclusive multitasking and windowed app features on an iPhone 17 Pro Max using the new vulnerability.

However, Apple has already patched the flaw in iOS 26.2 Beta 2 and has stopped signing iOS 26.2 Beta 1. Therefore, the vulnerability is available only to existing users who remain on supported versions.

Huaqiangbei storage product prices surge

According to Securities Times, Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics market is experiencing a dramatic surge in storage product prices. Since April this year, prices for memory sticks and SSDs have generally doubled. Some 64GB RAM modules using domestic chips have jumped from just over 1,000 RMB to 4,200 RMB—a more than threefold increase. Vendors report that RAM prices now change several times a day—morning and afternoon prices differ—earning them the nickname “black gold bars.”

The core driver of this price spike is a global supply-demand imbalance. On the demand side, explosive infrastructure growth in AI data centers has sharply increased the need for high-end memory chips. Industry data shows that a single AI server requires 3 to 8 times more DRAM and NAND than a regular server. On the supply side, to protect profit margins, global memory giants such as SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron are prioritizing production capacity for high-margin AI-focused products like HBM (high-bandwidth memory) and DDR5. They have also announced the discontinuation of DDR4 and other long-standing consumer-focused product lines, prompting an overall supply contraction.

In Huaqiangbei, although some merchants who stockpiled inventory early have seen their “paper wealth” soar, many others say that despite rising prices, sales are declining. This has created a dilemma of being afraid to buy inventory but also unable to sell it. PC assembly vendors have seen a clear drop in orders, and the cost of assembling a single computer has risen by at least 200 RMB. Smartphones are also affected: recent flagship launches from OPPO and vivo have all seen across-the-board price hikes. Xiaomi executives likewise stated publicly that rising storage costs have far exceeded expectations, significantly widening the price gap between storage tiers—such as the Redmi K90, where the 512GB model is 600 RMB more expensive than the 256GB version.

Industry analysts widely believe that this “supercycle” in storage is unlikely to reverse in the short term. Some consulting firms predict that the demand and price momentum for DRAM may continue through 2026. Several A-share–listed storage companies have also said that the industry upcycle will positively impact their performance.

In addition, Reuters, citing insiders, reported that Samsung Electronics raised the prices of some memory chips by as much as 60% compared to September. Research firms predict that Samsung may increase contract prices by 40% to 50% in the fourth quarter, exceeding the industry’s average expectation of 30%. Samsung declined to comment.

Apple Beijing Huiju store opening soon

On November 17, Apple updated its official website with the opening details of Apple Beijing Huiju, announcing that the store will open at 10 a.m. on December 6. Located on the first floor of Beijing Huiju at 15 Xinning Street, Daxing District, it will become Beijing’s sixth Apple Store. According to earlier media reports, the store began recruitment in February this year, and construction started in April.

On Apple’s website, the new store’s slogan is “Gather in Beijing, at Beijing Huiju,” accompanied by a rainbow-colored Apple logo with pixel dots and stripes as background elements. As with previous Apple Store openings, Apple is also offering wallpapers for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch based on this new logo.

Just Some Rumors to Look At

Opera claims that over the past two years, its daily active iOS users (DAU) in Europe have nearly doubled, and in key markets like France, the active user base has grown fivefold during the same period. The company attributes part of this growth to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires “gatekeeper” platforms such as Apple to allow users to freely choose their default browser.
According to The Wall Street Journal, downloads of Flighty—an iOS flight-tracking app—have doubled due to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reducing flights during the government shutdown. The app’s key strength lies in its timely, detailed flight data, and its delay and cancellation alerts often arrive faster than official airline notifications.
Under Apple’s newly updated App Store Review Guidelines, the annual percentage rate (APR) for loan apps must not exceed 36% (including all costs and fees), and such apps may not require borrowers to repay the loan in full within 60 days.
According to Mark Gurman—
- Apple is planning to abandon its iconic fall keynote model, shifting instead to a more distributed release schedule throughout the year. In 2026, Apple is expected to launch three high-end models in the fall (iPhone 18 Pro/Max and the foldable iPhone), followed by the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e mid-range and entry models in the spring of 2027—roughly six months later. The goal is to distribute revenue more evenly across the year, reduce concentrated pressure on marketing, engineering, and the supply chain, and respond more flexibly to competitors like Samsung.
- The second-generation iPhone Air was never planned for release next year, so recent rumors of a “delay” are inaccurate. Apple views the iPhone Air as a way to stockpile technology and supply-chain experience for its foldable devices. Its sales performance is roughly comparable to that of the Plus model it replaces.
- Apple has canceled development of the M4 Ultra chip. The next high-end M5 Ultra will debut in the Mac Studio. The high-end Mac Pro desktop has been put on hold, and Mac Studio is expected to become Apple’s main professional desktop offering.