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Yep, if someone is able to maintain above market level profits for so long it's usually a sign of monopolistic pricing. That's not necessarily bad, but in Apple
by reader_mode 5y ago
Yep, if someone is able to maintain above market level profits for so long it's usually a sign of monopolistic pricing. That's not necessarily bad, but in Apples case it's just double dipping on their monopolistic position and is clearly a drain on the market with no benefit. They have the same incentives to invest in R&D and support the ecosystem on the insane HW margins alone, I'd be willing to bet their dev budget doesn't change at all if this change in rate was made.
- Someone 5y agoBut how do you know 12% is about right, and not 10%, 2%, … Also, Apple will claim they have a better product that warrants higher margins. Data from independent parties shows that they attract more users willing to pay for apps, and developers aren’t leaving en masse for Android.
- reader_mode 5y ago>Also, Apple will claim they have a better product that warrants higher margins. And this argument is fine in the hardware market because they have competition, it's efficiency monopoly - that's why I said it's not always bad. However their app store controlls access to 50% of US market (even more by revenue) simply because it comes as the only option and the consumers can't unbundle it. If they had competition on the platform (different stores/distribution methods) - you wouldn't have to say what % is right, the market would decide the value added by their app store/payment methods.