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> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers Chrome has 2/3 of the browser market

> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers Chrome has 2/3 of the browser market and growing. At what point does it become a monopoly? Also don't forget the vast majority of Firefox's revenue is a royalty from Google. https://fourweekmba.com/how-does-mozilla-make-money/ https://fourweekmba.com/how-does-mozilla-make-money/

zaroth 7y ago
It becomes a monopoly when the supply of browsers is controlled by a single entity and the entry of new market participants is prevented or highly restricted. Having a large market share does not make you a monopoly if you do not control the supply and restrict or prevent new market participants. Since a browser is a piece of software you can install with a couple clicks in a couple minutes, and anyone who wants to can make one, even mostly based on the same code as Chrome in fact - I fail to see how Chrome can be considered a monopoly. Even if it had 90% market share. Chrome got where it is by computer savvy users telling everyone who would listen to just install Chrome and going to every computer they helped keep running and installing Chrome on it. The exact same thing could happen for Firefox over the next 5 years if the winds really start blowing in that direction.
- JetSpiegel 7y ago
  > Since a browser is a piece of software you can install with a couple clicks in a couple minutes Only on Legacy Windows. This is not so clear cut on nuWindows or even Android. Ignoring iOS for this particular discussion, that's a separate monopoly.
  - aembleton 7y ago
    Why not on Android? You can just install Firefox: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fi...
    - JetSpiegel 7y ago
      On the store controlled by Firefox's main competitor for browsers. It's a precarious situation, but so far Google hasn't asserted their power on that front.
  - zaroth 7y ago
    > Ignoring iOS... iOS is also not a monopoly. When you contort the definition of "monopoly" to mean a "non-open ecosystem" then IMO you seek to abuse the anti-trust regulations on the books to promote an open-ecosystem ideology. iOS is a closed ecosystem in a highly competitive marketplace. Customers -- when given the choice -- have chosen to opt-in to that closed ecosystem billions of times over the last decade. There are absolutely pros and cons to a closed ecosystem. Which is why it's so great that we have so many options for computing devices on the market occupying various spaces on that closed-open spectrum to choose from!
    - JetSpiegel 7y ago
      > iOS is a closed ecosystem in a highly competitive marketplace. And yet, Apple's profits grow, including per-unit. Not much competition there. Firefox compiled for iOS cannot be distributed on the store, and since there is no way to sideload apps, Apple has a literal monopoly on Browsers. Where's the choice there?

zaroth 7y ago

It becomes a monopoly when the supply of browsers is controlled by a single entity and the entry of new market participants is prevented or highly restricted. Having a large market share does not make you a monopoly if you do not control the supply and restrict or prevent new market participants. Since a browser is a piece of software you can install with a couple clicks in a couple minutes, and anyone who wants to can make one, even mostly based on the same code as Chrome in fact - I fail to see how Chrome can be considered a monopoly. Even if it had 90% market share. Chrome got where it is by computer savvy users telling everyone who would listen to just install Chrome and going to every computer they helped keep running and installing Chrome on it. The exact same thing could happen for Firefox over the next 5 years if the winds really start blowing in that direction.

JetSpiegel 7y ago
> Since a browser is a piece of software you can install with a couple clicks in a couple minutes Only on Legacy Windows. This is not so clear cut on nuWindows or even Android. Ignoring iOS for this particular discussion, that's a separate monopoly.
- aembleton 7y ago
  Why not on Android? You can just install Firefox: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fi...
  - JetSpiegel 7y ago
    On the store controlled by Firefox's main competitor for browsers. It's a precarious situation, but so far Google hasn't asserted their power on that front.
- zaroth 7y ago
  > Ignoring iOS... iOS is also not a monopoly. When you contort the definition of "monopoly" to mean a "non-open ecosystem" then IMO you seek to abuse the anti-trust regulations on the books to promote an open-ecosystem ideology. iOS is a closed ecosystem in a highly competitive marketplace. Customers -- when given the choice -- have chosen to opt-in to that closed ecosystem billions of times over the last decade. There are absolutely pros and cons to a closed ecosystem. Which is why it's so great that we have so many options for computing devices on the market occupying various spaces on that closed-open spectrum to choose from!
  - JetSpiegel 7y ago
    > iOS is a closed ecosystem in a highly competitive marketplace. And yet, Apple's profits grow, including per-unit. Not much competition there. Firefox compiled for iOS cannot be distributed on the store, and since there is no way to sideload apps, Apple has a literal monopoly on Browsers. Where's the choice there?