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Apple and Android together have a duopoly or an oligarchy over mobile phones. Apple also has a lock over it's own platform for which switching costs are very h
by jariel 6y ago
Apple and Android together have a duopoly or an oligarchy over mobile phones.
Apple also has a lock over it's own platform for which switching costs are very high.
If people switched phones every few weeks, this would be less of an issue.
- scarface74 6y agoWhat is the high switching cost? Hardly anyone buys apps. They either pay for services that work cross platform and the majority of sales are coming from in app consumables for games. Media? iTunes music you buy has been DRM free for a decade and Apple Music is available on Android. Movies? Blame that on the studios that don’t participate in Movies Anywhere. Apple is a member along with Amazon, Vudu, and Google. If you buy a movie from a participating studio, it syncs between all of the platforms. Books? No one buys books from Apple.
- jariel 6y ago"What is the high switching cost?" People buy phones once every year or two, they're about $1K and data is controlled by the providers = High switching cost. Your favourite Marmalade ... were it to double in price next week at the grocery store, could be substituted without any friction.
- scarface74 6y agoThe ASP of an iPhone is $675. An Android phone is less than $300. That doesn’t take into account the ability to sell your phone and/or give it to someone. What do you mean “data is controlled by your provider”? You just switch the SIM card.
- fomine3 6y agoASP is meaningless because who had iPhone won't buy dirt cheap Android phone.
- scarface74 6y agoThe ASP of an iPhone is around $700 But now are you saying that we need government intervention because of “lock in” when people are using their own free will to buy more expensive products when their are cheaper more “open” products available? Are people too dumb to make their own choices.
- threeseed 6y agoData isn't locked to one platform. You can transfer photos, mail, browser history etc between phones and app data is of course managed by the app.