Apple has a monopoly for (admission and) distribution of iOS apps to end users.
Not that hard to understand - considering I was directly replying to
someone proclaiming the dangers of apps from 3rd party stores and how 3rd party app stores are shoddy - is it?
By that definition, every company has a monopoly on whatever goods they are selling. Nintendo has a monopoly on the switch console, and McDonald's has a monopoly on the quarter pounder. Per US law at least, it's not illegal to be a monopoly, and that's the difference between the US and the EU. US antitrust law looks at harm done to consumers (compared to EU law which looks at harm to smaller businesses). More importantly, monopolies have no duty to deal, which means they are not obligated to cater to every business, especially companies like Epic who knowingly violated the rules governing the App Store.
This is why I don't understand why you keep shouting "Apple is a monopoly" from the roof time and time again like it's supposed to mean something. So what if Apple is one? I am not living in the matrix. I know what Apple is. The only difference here is that I am more interested in being right than I am in making statements that are rooted in ideology.
I also wonder just how many people in the EU actually support the DMA, given that it's designed primarily to benefit their local businesses, and not everybody in the EU is necessarily running an app business. Consumers, not Apple, are the group who ultimately ends up supporting tens of millions of iOS developers financially. However, most of the commentary written about the App Store has come from the perspective of competitors with pending or concluded lawsuits against Apple (like Epic) or with an axe to grind (like Hey and Spotify). Their demands are often incongruent with what is ultimately good for consumers and even indie developers.
No coverage from the average person on the street, it seems. And I believe that consumers don't really care about a 30% cut they will never see, and the reality is that most don't really dislike closed, sandboxed app ecosystems. Otherwise, you would have seen more outcry when Fortnite was booted from the iOS App Store, and the reality was that this news was largely met with indifference.
I get it. You don't like the way Apple runs their business. You want to see the current App Store model burnt to the ground. I personally don't mind seeing the status quo preserved, because it suits my needs of a safe and secure storefront and I went all in on the Apple ecosystem knowing this very well.
It may seem odd to suggest that consumers need to vocally support a $3 trillion company. However, courts and lawmakers need to hear from actual consumers, not Apple competitors, about why they choose the App Store instead of alternatives available in the marketplace. Rather than hearing the same 3-4 companies parrot about how evil Apple is, just because.
And maybe consumers just need to be more vocal in this regard.