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People in the US seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding on what constitutes a monopoly. I have seen numerous people say that Apple is a monopoly despite h

by cwhiz 7y ago

People in the US seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding on what constitutes a monopoly. I have seen numerous people say that Apple is a monopoly despite having less than 20% market share. Amazon isn't anywhere near a monopoly. There are many HUGE competitors in the retail and online retail space. Walmart, Costco, Shopify, Target, Best Buy, Newegg, Home Depot, Lowes, Macy's, Staples, Alibaba, CVS, and dozens more.

guerrilla 7y ago
Few of those are in the same market as Amazon. It's not strictly about market share but dominance, however a market share of 50% defaults to a judgement of dominant. Amazon is projected to attain that 50% share in retail e-commerce in 2021. They're currently at about 47-49%. Amazon is exactly a monopoly and people know it. https://www.statista.com/statistics/788109/amazon-retail-market-share-usa/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/788109/amazon-retail-mar...
elliekelly 7y ago
People seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what antitrust enforcement in the US entails. The DOJ isn’t limited to bringing actions only against monopolies. The Sherman Act also prohibits conduct that attempts to monopolize a market.
basch 7y ago
The argument isnt that they are a monopoly, its that they are either violating antitrust law, or antitrust law is currently unsuited to handle what amazon is doing. People just mistakenly use the word monopoly to mean antitrust or anticompetitive. It's also less about amazon just being an ecommerce box store, and more about having captured aspects of horizontal and vertical integration across many markets. https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-parado... >Amazon is the titan of twenty-first century commerce. In addition to being a retailer, it is now a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a producer of television and films, a fashion designer, a hardware manufacturer, and a leading host of cloud server space. Amazon is Microsoft, Sony, Visa, Fedex/UPS, Disney, GAP, and Walmart rolled into one.
- cwhiz 7y ago
  Amazon isn’t even as large as Microsoft. What an absurd statement.
  - basch 7y ago
    The comparison was by product offering, not market cap.
    - cwhiz 7y ago
      The fact that they are ankle deep in many different industries doesn't help your antitrust argument. They aren't dominant in any single industry they are in.
Nasrudith 7y ago
Monopoly has been downright abused as a term via propaganda pushes to mean "big and I don't like it".

by cwhiz 7y ago

guerrilla 7y ago

Few of those are in the same market as Amazon. It's not strictly about market share but dominance, however a market share of 50% defaults to a judgement of dominant. Amazon is projected to attain that 50% share in retail e-commerce in 2021. They're currently at about 47-49%. Amazon is exactly a monopoly and people know it. https://www.statista.com/statistics/788109/amazon-retail-market-share-usa/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/788109/amazon-retail-mar...

elliekelly 7y ago

People seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what antitrust enforcement in the US entails. The DOJ isn’t limited to bringing actions only against monopolies. The Sherman Act also prohibits conduct that attempts to monopolize a market.

basch 7y ago

The argument isnt that they are a monopoly, its that they are either violating antitrust law, or antitrust law is currently unsuited to handle what amazon is doing. People just mistakenly use the word monopoly to mean antitrust or anticompetitive. It's also less about amazon just being an ecommerce box store, and more about having captured aspects of horizontal and vertical integration across many markets. https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-parado... >Amazon is the titan of twenty-first century commerce. In addition to being a retailer, it is now a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a producer of television and films, a fashion designer, a hardware manufacturer, and a leading host of cloud server space. Amazon is Microsoft, Sony, Visa, Fedex/UPS, Disney, GAP, and Walmart rolled into one.

cwhiz 7y ago
Amazon isn’t even as large as Microsoft. What an absurd statement.
- basch 7y ago
  The comparison was by product offering, not market cap.
  - cwhiz 7y ago
    The fact that they are ankle deep in many different industries doesn't help your antitrust argument. They aren't dominant in any single industry they are in.

Nasrudith 7y ago

Monopoly has been downright abused as a term via propaganda pushes to mean "big and I don't like it".