4 ms·

They don't hold a minority share. Monopolies are not decided by the world, they're decided by countries for that country's market Plenty of sites claim they ha

They don't hold a minority share. Monopolies are not decided by the world, they're decided by countries for that country's market Plenty of sites claim they have a majority in the USA https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-america https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-sta... UK https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-kingdom https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-kin... Japan https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/japan https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/japan Each of those countries could easily bring suit. They wouldn't care at all that in some other country Apple is not the largest player. Louis Vuitton is a bad example as their market share is tiny. AFAIK there is no clothing brand with a market percent as large as Apple's mobile market percent. Maybe Luxotica in eyewear but some articles claim their market is only around 20%

mrtksn 5y ago
That's hardly a monopoly, there's hardly any absence of competition. Even if it was a monopoly it would't be illegal by default but it's not a monopoly anyway. It's more like %50 to %70 of the people in US/JP/UK have chosen to purchase the products of that company but they could have chosen any other brand that is available to them. In fact, people in countries of similar affluence have chosen the other way around with France %63, Netherlands %54, Germany %58, Spain %78 Android and there's nothing stopping the UK/US/JP do the exactly the same as the alternatives are available and competative. It looks like Apple managed to design devices that Americans like more than the ones the other brands designed and there's nothing wrong about it. Can Apple abuse it's position position in the market, even the smallest company can do that but the key is that if that happens people do have the option to do purchases from somewhere else.
- paulluuk 5y ago
  So do you feel that anything other than 100% market share counts as a monopoly? Where would you draw the line?
  - mrtksn 5y ago
    > So do you feel that anything other than 100% market share counts as a monopoly? No I did not say that. I say, there's a healthy competition and there's no monopoly as people have viable alternatives and in many other countries people choose these alternatives and people where Apple is dominant do have the same alternatives to choose from. There's no such thing as "right of minimum market share" that Apple violates by selling too many devices. People do have the options and if they still buy Apple that's not monopoly, that's success.
    - fsflover 5y ago
      But do you honestly believe that a duopoly in which the two companies tightly collaborate provides a reasonable choice to the consumers?
      - mrtksn 5y ago
        No, I'm very annoyed by Google as their product quality keeps declining year after year and I do not have a real choice. In fact, I have no practical ability to change my e-mail address as I'm using it since 1st of April 2004 and Google does not offer me to keep the address if I want to switch to another provider. My arguments are in defence of Apple, not Google. I can move away from Apple at any time but I can't do the same with Google.
        fsflover 5y ago
        > I can move away from Apple at any time For you it might be true but not for many Apple users who are deep into the Apple ecosystem.
        mrtksn 5y ago
        How so? What Apple services are impossible or impractical to switch away from? Inconvenient? Could be. Note a drop-in replacement? Sure, that's why there are different companies.
- bjohnson225 5y ago
  In the UK a market share of 40% is enough for the competition authorities to investigate a company for monopolistic practices. It's less about market share and more about if the company is using its position in one market to create an unfair advantage in another. iOS and Android are both in a position with market power in many countries.
  - mrtksn 5y ago
    I agree. Being monopoly isn't even illegal anyway.

mrtksn 5y ago

That's hardly a monopoly, there's hardly any absence of competition. Even if it was a monopoly it would't be illegal by default but it's not a monopoly anyway. It's more like %50 to %70 of the people in US/JP/UK have chosen to purchase the products of that company but they could have chosen any other brand that is available to them. In fact, people in countries of similar affluence have chosen the other way around with France %63, Netherlands %54, Germany %58, Spain %78 Android and there's nothing stopping the UK/US/JP do the exactly the same as the alternatives are available and competative. It looks like Apple managed to design devices that Americans like more than the ones the other brands designed and there's nothing wrong about it. Can Apple abuse it's position position in the market, even the smallest company can do that but the key is that if that happens people do have the option to do purchases from somewhere else.

paulluuk 5y ago
So do you feel that anything other than 100% market share counts as a monopoly? Where would you draw the line?
- mrtksn 5y ago
  > So do you feel that anything other than 100% market share counts as a monopoly? No I did not say that. I say, there's a healthy competition and there's no monopoly as people have viable alternatives and in many other countries people choose these alternatives and people where Apple is dominant do have the same alternatives to choose from. There's no such thing as "right of minimum market share" that Apple violates by selling too many devices. People do have the options and if they still buy Apple that's not monopoly, that's success.
  - fsflover 5y ago
    But do you honestly believe that a duopoly in which the two companies tightly collaborate provides a reasonable choice to the consumers?
    - mrtksn 5y ago
      No, I'm very annoyed by Google as their product quality keeps declining year after year and I do not have a real choice. In fact, I have no practical ability to change my e-mail address as I'm using it since 1st of April 2004 and Google does not offer me to keep the address if I want to switch to another provider. My arguments are in defence of Apple, not Google. I can move away from Apple at any time but I can't do the same with Google.
      - fsflover 5y ago
        > I can move away from Apple at any time For you it might be true but not for many Apple users who are deep into the Apple ecosystem.
        mrtksn 5y ago
        How so? What Apple services are impossible or impractical to switch away from? Inconvenient? Could be. Note a drop-in replacement? Sure, that's why there are different companies.
bjohnson225 5y ago
In the UK a market share of 40% is enough for the competition authorities to investigate a company for monopolistic practices. It's less about market share and more about if the company is using its position in one market to create an unfair advantage in another. iOS and Android are both in a position with market power in many countries.
- mrtksn 5y ago
  I agree. Being monopoly isn't even illegal anyway.