3 ms·

You don't get to charge what you want when your platform approaches monopoly in a market. The trick is defining the market. Apple already has 90+% market share

You don't get to charge what you want when your platform approaches monopoly in a market. The trick is defining the market. Apple already has 90+% market share in many less broadly defined markets - e.g. for young consumers, or in higher priced apps - and what happens depends on who successfully segments the market in the eyes of regulators.

nodamage 6y ago
You don't get to arbitrarily redefine the market until you hit your desired threshold either. The courts will typically consider whether the consumer has reasonable access to alternatives to your product. Which in the case of Apple, there definitely are.
- Dahoon 6y ago
  > whether the consumer has reasonable access to alternatives No, because in this case the alternative is not another phone but another app store.
  - nodamage 6y ago
    The apps available are part of the purchasing decision of which phone to buy, just like which games are available are part of the purchasing decision of which console to buy. You don't get to buy an Xbox and then demand to be able to play Mario Kart on it.
    - snowron6 6y ago
      This isn't a valid analogy. A more appropriate one would be if Nintendo wanted to release Mario kart on the Xbox but Microsoft refused to allow them unless Nintendo gave them 30% of the revenue from it.
      - nodamage 6y ago
        You realize that's actually the case, right? If Nintendo wanted to publish Mario Kart on the Xbox they would have to sign a publisher agreement with Microsoft and pay a royalty for every copy of Mario Kart sold on the Xbox.
  - ghostwriter 6y ago
    Why do you think that I as consumer need another app store? What if I hate app stores and I don't want to download your weekly editions of "bug fixes and performance improvements" and just want a working mobile-friendly web app? Telegram is pretty much the same whether it's a native app or a web app to me.
jpttsn 6y ago
By gerrymandering the market definition you can make any company a monopoly. McDonalds is not a restaurant: it’s a burger parlor. No wait, a fast-food burger parlor. With a clown mascot. All who depend on clown-themed burgers are under their bootheel. Watch out, your startup might be a monopoly too.
- im3w1l 6y ago
  Imagine a town of 50 people with only one restaurant: a mc donalds. The next town is three hours away and only has a burger king. You can move there, but it's pretty inconvenient.
  - ghostwriter 6y ago
    Imagine a residential building that has only one coffee shop on its ground floor. The next coffee shop is across the road, you can go there, but it's pretty inconvenient. Inconvenience is not a word in a definition of monopoly.

nodamage 6y ago

You don't get to arbitrarily redefine the market until you hit your desired threshold either. The courts will typically consider whether the consumer has reasonable access to alternatives to your product. Which in the case of Apple, there definitely are.

Dahoon 6y ago
> whether the consumer has reasonable access to alternatives No, because in this case the alternative is not another phone but another app store.
- nodamage 6y ago
  The apps available are part of the purchasing decision of which phone to buy, just like which games are available are part of the purchasing decision of which console to buy. You don't get to buy an Xbox and then demand to be able to play Mario Kart on it.
  - snowron6 6y ago
    This isn't a valid analogy. A more appropriate one would be if Nintendo wanted to release Mario kart on the Xbox but Microsoft refused to allow them unless Nintendo gave them 30% of the revenue from it.
    - nodamage 6y ago
      You realize that's actually the case, right? If Nintendo wanted to publish Mario Kart on the Xbox they would have to sign a publisher agreement with Microsoft and pay a royalty for every copy of Mario Kart sold on the Xbox.
- ghostwriter 6y ago
  Why do you think that I as consumer need another app store? What if I hate app stores and I don't want to download your weekly editions of "bug fixes and performance improvements" and just want a working mobile-friendly web app? Telegram is pretty much the same whether it's a native app or a web app to me.

jpttsn 6y ago

By gerrymandering the market definition you can make any company a monopoly. McDonalds is not a restaurant: it’s a burger parlor. No wait, a fast-food burger parlor. With a clown mascot. All who depend on clown-themed burgers are under their bootheel. Watch out, your startup might be a monopoly too.

im3w1l 6y ago
Imagine a town of 50 people with only one restaurant: a mc donalds. The next town is three hours away and only has a burger king. You can move there, but it's pretty inconvenient.
- ghostwriter 6y ago
  Imagine a residential building that has only one coffee shop on its ground floor. The next coffee shop is across the road, you can go there, but it's pretty inconvenient. Inconvenience is not a word in a definition of monopoly.