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> I can use plugins in a web browser to effectively visit 100 stores to shop for the best price on an item. Amazon is just another vendor. Sure you could, but

> I can use plugins in a web browser to effectively visit 100 stores to shop for the best price on an item. Amazon is just another vendor. Sure you could, but is that how most users use the web? According to Statista (2019 - https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-commerce-market-share/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-c...) [same link I put before], over 50% of the market is just Amazon, even though it's soooo easy to chose another one. Since they now have a grip of the majority of the market, they should be having lots of eyes on them, as they can easily abuse their position, which most of us don't want to them to do.

ericmay 6y ago
I can’t view the link without paying unless you are simply showing that Amazon has 13% of the global e-commerce market and 50%~ of the U.S. market. To answer your question - it doesn’t matter. We don’t determine monopolies simply because of market share. If we did, why aren’t we filing another anti-trust investigation against Microsoft and Windows? The point anyway is that people have no switching cost. Amazon faces stiff competition not just in America but globally. I remain unconvinced that they have a monopoly on e-commerce. Sure they may have take some monopolistic actions which could be addressed, but that’s not enough for me to demonstrate that they are a monopoly. Frankly, I think Amazon has really been struggling. Prime sucks. 2-day shipping is slipping not just in service but as new competitors enter the market. It’s a fierce competition. Google and Facebook on the other hand are monopolies. That’s a no-brainer. Apple I’m not sure how they’ve even been in the discussion.
- simion314 6y ago
  >Apple I’m not sure how they’ve even been in the discussion Remember that Apple and Google pulled a legal app from their stores, regular Apple users (like 50% of US) can't install stuff on their device without Apple parental approval and the "make it a website argument also fails because Apple is does not let you install a better browser". 50% still affects a lot of people, though Apple fanboys will attempt to say is not a big enough number (remember you could install other browsers and whatever application you wanted on Windows without a Microsoft approval or tax).
  - ericmay 6y ago
    Depends on how you look at it. Are we comparing operating systems? Then we have a duopoly and should regulated Android as well. Are we comparing phone manufacturers? Well, there's a ton of them, Apple just competes and does the best. > Apple and Google pulled a legal app from their stores I can't sell anything I want at Wal-Mart. Doesn't PayPal not allow porn sites to do business? I don't see how this is different. > Windows without a Microsoft approval or tax So is it market share or what? What exactly is the monopoly? Microsoft doesn't allow me to play PlayStation games on Xbox. Most computers are sold with Windows operating systems. I don't know what the monopoly is supposed to be with Apple.
    - simion314 6y ago
      - consoles, I am against their locking too , there is less complains about them so far since people can jailbreak them and their mostly media/enterteiment devices, but again I don't agree with the locks on consoles either - monopoly, duopoly is not that important, you can have 3 big actors in a market that are cooperating against the users for their own interests, so the market share is irrelevant and the abuse/damage is relevant. Is Apple not allowing say 10 million users to install some app because of political reasons or 50 million users to install a game because some other policy reason? This people were affected , for example Joe did not know when he bought his iPhone that Apple can block his favorite game , or some app , is friend Bob has Android and he side loaded it, Joe is pissed now and feels tricked because on the box it was not printed that Apple can abuse his trust like this.
  - katbyte 6y ago
    What app?
    - simion314 6y ago
      I don't want to name it, because the US guys will start again a big debate why X event is worse then Y event, why this P app is worse then F app, and since X > Y and P< F then Apple is right to ban the legal app P to protect the citizens. That is a very visible case, but there were other smaller cases , where smaller applications were blocked because they had a link and that link was going to a page and on that page a developer would accept donations and Apple wanted a but from that. Then you have apps blocked on totalitarian states, an entire nation is affected because they can't side load applications.
zepto 6y ago
> Sure you could, but is that how most users use the web? It’s not clear what the point is here. > According to Statista (2019 - https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-c https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-c...) [same link I put before], over 50% of the market is just Amazon, even though it's soooo easy to chose another one. Could it be that people choose Amazon because despite its faults it provides the best service? I dislike Amazon and try to avoid them wherever possible, but in practice I probably use them 50% of the time, because in those instances there isn’t a better alternative.
jjk166 6y ago
It doesn't matter what percentage of people choose an option so long as competing options are readily available. The fact is Amazon can't abuse it's position and raise prices dramatically or severely reduce service or otherwise take advantage of a captive market because the market is not captive.

ericmay 6y ago

I can’t view the link without paying unless you are simply showing that Amazon has 13% of the global e-commerce market and 50%~ of the U.S. market. To answer your question - it doesn’t matter. We don’t determine monopolies simply because of market share. If we did, why aren’t we filing another anti-trust investigation against Microsoft and Windows? The point anyway is that people have no switching cost. Amazon faces stiff competition not just in America but globally. I remain unconvinced that they have a monopoly on e-commerce. Sure they may have take some monopolistic actions which could be addressed, but that’s not enough for me to demonstrate that they are a monopoly. Frankly, I think Amazon has really been struggling. Prime sucks. 2-day shipping is slipping not just in service but as new competitors enter the market. It’s a fierce competition. Google and Facebook on the other hand are monopolies. That’s a no-brainer. Apple I’m not sure how they’ve even been in the discussion.

simion314 6y ago
>Apple I’m not sure how they’ve even been in the discussion Remember that Apple and Google pulled a legal app from their stores, regular Apple users (like 50% of US) can't install stuff on their device without Apple parental approval and the "make it a website argument also fails because Apple is does not let you install a better browser". 50% still affects a lot of people, though Apple fanboys will attempt to say is not a big enough number (remember you could install other browsers and whatever application you wanted on Windows without a Microsoft approval or tax).
- ericmay 6y ago
  Depends on how you look at it. Are we comparing operating systems? Then we have a duopoly and should regulated Android as well. Are we comparing phone manufacturers? Well, there's a ton of them, Apple just competes and does the best. > Apple and Google pulled a legal app from their stores I can't sell anything I want at Wal-Mart. Doesn't PayPal not allow porn sites to do business? I don't see how this is different. > Windows without a Microsoft approval or tax So is it market share or what? What exactly is the monopoly? Microsoft doesn't allow me to play PlayStation games on Xbox. Most computers are sold with Windows operating systems. I don't know what the monopoly is supposed to be with Apple.
  - simion314 6y ago
    - consoles, I am against their locking too , there is less complains about them so far since people can jailbreak them and their mostly media/enterteiment devices, but again I don't agree with the locks on consoles either - monopoly, duopoly is not that important, you can have 3 big actors in a market that are cooperating against the users for their own interests, so the market share is irrelevant and the abuse/damage is relevant. Is Apple not allowing say 10 million users to install some app because of political reasons or 50 million users to install a game because some other policy reason? This people were affected , for example Joe did not know when he bought his iPhone that Apple can block his favorite game , or some app , is friend Bob has Android and he side loaded it, Joe is pissed now and feels tricked because on the box it was not printed that Apple can abuse his trust like this.
- katbyte 6y ago
  What app?
  - simion314 6y ago
    I don't want to name it, because the US guys will start again a big debate why X event is worse then Y event, why this P app is worse then F app, and since X > Y and P< F then Apple is right to ban the legal app P to protect the citizens. That is a very visible case, but there were other smaller cases , where smaller applications were blocked because they had a link and that link was going to a page and on that page a developer would accept donations and Apple wanted a but from that. Then you have apps blocked on totalitarian states, an entire nation is affected because they can't side load applications.

zepto 6y ago

> Sure you could, but is that how most users use the web? It’s not clear what the point is here. > According to Statista (2019 - https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-c https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-c...) [same link I put before], over 50% of the market is just Amazon, even though it's soooo easy to chose another one. Could it be that people choose Amazon because despite its faults it provides the best service? I dislike Amazon and try to avoid them wherever possible, but in practice I probably use them 50% of the time, because in those instances there isn’t a better alternative.

jjk166 6y ago

It doesn't matter what percentage of people choose an option so long as competing options are readily available. The fact is Amazon can't abuse it's position and raise prices dramatically or severely reduce service or otherwise take advantage of a captive market because the market is not captive.