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Xbox isn't central to modern life like a smartphone is. Also, the game consoles use a razor/blades model, they're sold at a loss and make money through the sale
by tapoxi 6y ago
Xbox isn't central to modern life like a smartphone is. Also, the game consoles use a razor/blades model, they're sold at a loss and make money through the sale of games. Smartphones are not sold at a loss.
- kingnothing 6y agoFortnite isn't central to modern life.
- m4rtink 6y agoIIRC most modern consoles are no longer sold at a loss, though the margins are not very high.
- PeterisP 6y agoThere are many factors that are relevant to the question whether Apple has a dominant market position and these actions would/should be limited by antitrust laws, or if their competitive actions are within the bounds of fair play. These two factors are not. The rights and legal limitations of Apple (regarding App Store) and Microsoft (regarding Xbox) are exactly the same no matter if iPhone or Xbox is considered "central to modern life" or not; and whether the hardware was sold at a loss. These aspects are simply not relevant for the antitrust case, they should not and would not change the decision.
- montagg 6y agoYou might be correct, from an ethical perspective, but this isn’t the way US antitrust law works today. If different rules should be applied to companies that are essential to modern life, such as classifying them as essential services, that should be a new law that’s explicit about the qualifications, gets debated, and has to reconcile the tradeoffs inherent in that classification. It should definitely not be something defined by a court of law (and it’s unlikely to be in this case).