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Amazon's sales are just 29% of the book selling market (2012 share, even after Borders was out of the picture for over a year). B&N's are 20%. If their discount
by dangrossman 13y ago
Amazon's sales are just 29% of the book selling market (2012 share, even after Borders was out of the picture for over a year). B&N's are 20%. If their discount pricing hasn't even gotten them 1/3rd of the market after all these years, it'd be hard to prove that they're soon going to monopolize it.
- adventured 13y agoI agree with your overall premise, but anti-trust law is far broader in scope than monopolization. Indeed, there's nothing about anti-trust law that forbids a monopoly, and there's no specific market share requirement. Market share is but one market-power consideration when the government looks at whether a company has caused harm. There are several angles to anti-trust, such as collusion and predatory pricing, that can matter even at modest market share points, if the government can prove consumer harm.
- peterwiese 13y agoThat is mostly correct. Though I would argue that anti trust law is not primarily concerned with protecting consumer interest (for this purpose serves unfair competition law), but with protecting competition as an institution. Consumer interest is but one measure amongst many to assess the existence of a functioning competition in a certain market.