7 ms·
In what metric is Apple a monopoly?
by hnarayanan 6y ago
In what metric is Apple a monopoly?
- benologist 6y ago"The kind of common theme is the abuse of their market power to maintain their market dominance, to crush competitors, to exclude folks from their platform and to earn monopoly rents." - the antitrust committee investigating them https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/antitrust-investigation-apple-disturbing-behavior/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/antitrust-investigation...
- partyboy 6y agoevery
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- madeofpalk 6y agoEpic asserts that they maintain an illegal monopoly of iOS app distribution.
- scarface74 6y agoBut surprisingly Epic didn’t go after the console makers..
- madeofpalk 6y agoBecause Epic is happy with the console makers, but they're not happy with Apple. The console makers actually actually do things for Fornite, other than offering a download. Sony sells like a Fornite + Playstation bundle, and do marketing with them.
- scarface74 6y agoIt couldn’t possibly be that they don’t want to piss of the consoles where 80% of their revenue is derived?
- threeseed 6y agoEpic is maintaining an illegal monopoly on Fortnite distribution. It's not available on Steam store for example.
- madeofpalk 6y agoIf you feel so wronged by this, take it up with the courts and see if they agree?
- nobodyshere 6y agoIn having App Store as the only way to install common apps for their devices.
- alpaca128 6y agoBut that also applies to every single current game console and almost all other modern devices with app support, ranging from smartwatches to home automation. That doesn't seem like a monopoly to me. Apple has huge competition on the mobile market. Windows Phone 8 only had Microsoft's own app store, was that a monopoly with its <5% market share? I think not.
- gpm 6y ago> But that also applies to every single current game console and almost all other modern devices with app support, ranging from smartwatches to home automation. That sounds like an argument that "every single current game console and almost all other modern devices with app support" are maintaining monopolies on app distribution on their platform, what's your point? Epic Games is not obligated in any way to sue every company breaking the law just because they chose to sue one that is.
- hnarayanan 6y agoHis point is that it’s like saying “Coke has a monopoly on the sale and distribution of Coke.”
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- anonymousab 6y agoTim Sweeney has made some statements about this, to try and walk a line where, while the situation is equally true about game consoles, they shouldn't count/shouldn't be forced to be open because their platforms are less innately profitable. That is, consoles are sold at a loss and have a lot of R&D costs, and so they have more rights to maintain an exclusionary platform than Apple. I can see the pragmatic sense in that argument, but I'm pessimistic and see it more as Tim trying to avoid destroying a relationship with strategically critical partners while achieving new strategic goals on mobile. Trying to have his cake and eat it too.
- echelon 6y agoiPhone is the only computer many Americans own. Software development and access to American consumers is no longer free and open.
- ahnick 6y agoMarket share in the US mobile OS market. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-america/ https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-sta...
- Matticus_Rex 6y agoWas that supposed to show Apple was a monopoly? Because that's not what it shows.
- ahnick 6y agoIt shows they have a majority share of the mobile OS market in the US; therefore, they can basically act like they have a monopoly in the US. Everyone else is a distant second, so they can monopolize or attempt to monopolize the mobile app market.
- Matticus_Rex 6y agoThat's not how any of this works. Majority share is a lot of power, but the theory of how monopolies work doesn't support the idea that anyone with a majority of the market has monopoly power.
- ahnick 6y agoIt's most definitely how this works. Monopoly power isn't some binary attribute. It's not like you flip a switch one day from not being a monopoly to suddenly becoming a monopoly. Monopoly power is accrued over time with increasing market share. Very few companies have the kind of market share we are talking about here with Apple and the US mobile OS market. Take for example, Walmart, who many people think of being gigantic in the retail sector in the US. They only account for 16% of US retail sales. If Apple only had 16% of the US mobile OS market there wouldn't even be a discussion about anti-trust laws and Apple wouldn't have just made this announcement -> https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=84w3e5bm https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=84w3e5bm
- yyyk 6y agoIt's irrelevant whether Apple are technically a monopoly or not; Apple abuses their iOS market power to force vendors to use their payment system.
- jjtheblunt 6y agoNot being sarcastic, and I'm misunderstanding what you mean: how can Apple abuse their market power over something they alone created?
- yyyk 6y agoTwo reasons: 1) They use their market power over something they created in order to gain advantage in a market they did not create (payment processors). There's no technical reason to link the two except that's it's good for Apple's bottom line. 2) Apple's app store is like running a Mall where Apple rents store, or Apple being a landlord renting apartments. The agreement to receive rents comes with implied duties like allow fair competition, and Apple overtly giving themselves undue advantage violates that.
- mrh0057 6y agoAlso have to mention apple is charging a fee way outside the norm for a payment processor at 30%. Have to also remember to deploy to the app store and a lot of the development has to be done on a Mac. So it is really equivalent of saying you must buy the factory from us, only sell in our store, and only use our payment processor.
- nuker 6y ago> Apple's app store is like running a Mall where Apple rents store Apple's app store is the store, not a mall, 100% build, owned and operated by Apple. Developers are goods suppliers, like milk to Wallmart. Want a better deal? Build your own store or sell elsewhere. You cannot expect Wallmart stocking your empty milk bottles for free with a printed message "now you can buy milk on milk.com"
- 6y ago
- IncRnd 6y agoApple is a monopoly that controls what applications can run on iPhones. Being a monopoly is not illegal in the US. What is illegal is for a monopoly to engage in predatory practices, which Apple clearly does.