3 ms·
I don't see the problem here. 20 years ago you could have said the same thing about AOL Instant Messenger not being compatible with Yahoo Messenger.
by Bluecobra 4y ago
I don't see the problem here. 20 years ago you could have said the same thing about AOL Instant Messenger not being compatible with Yahoo Messenger.
- rahimnathwani 4y agoThe problem comes when you use your dominant position in one market (messaging apps) to strengthen or create a dominant position in a different market (mobile phone hardware).
- emodendroket 4y agoIt seems like a stretch to claim that Apple’s position in either market is truly dominant given a similarly sized competitor.
- MagnumOpus 4y agoNot a stretch - one of the criteria of dominance is being able to make abnormal profits. The company's famous 200% markups that are triple that of everyone else in the industry is a strong sign. (Even if you disregard that its next-biggest competitor Samsung is 10x smaller in phone revenues.)
- tshaddox 4y agoTheir mobile hardware is generally comparable to competitors' flagships both in tech specs and prices, so aren't the profits more of an issue with scale and efficiency? It feels like quite the stretch to claim that Apple is able to massively overcharge for its phones because they control access to iMessage.
- rahimnathwani 4y agoFrom the article: Former marketing chief Phil Schiller famously said that porting iMessage to Android "would hurt us more than help us," and another former Apple exec said in an email that "iMessage amounts to serious lock-in."
- emodendroket 4y agoI read that but I don’t think it changes my position. It’s lock-in if you buy software for your Xbox but does that mean that Xbox has a dominant market position?
- Nomentatus 4y agoNot just a different market - on other matters, brief lack of interoperability is okay, but yes, AOL may have pushed the point back then, too.