It's first and foremost an economic concept.
But they do not control the distribution of (competitors') Ford or Chevrolet cars to a quarter or half of the population.
I didn't say that Apple has a monopoly, I said that the App Store has a monopoly for distributing Apps and Games on iOS.
It’s a 100% given a manufacturer has a natural monopoly on the products it creates. An illegal monopoly is a horse of a different color.
Neither does apple on a global basis.
Like ford does on distribution of its cars.
So what? Apple is not responsible to the hundreds of competitors in the smartphone market that pay google a $1 to license android. That’s a google problem. Nor is there any legal impediment to entering the smartphone market. But the dma isn’t about competition it’s about the EU playing Robin Hood.
That is not a natural monopoly, which is also an economic concept. It occurs when a competitor can't possibly make competing product or service. Networks of cables, wires, pipes, roads, railway tracks are usually cited when talking about natural monopolies.
Apple is not a monopoly, and nobody is claiming this.
Ford has no monopoly of distributing its cars in the US, that is given to the dealerships by law. You can have legal monopolies, for example when a state or city says only one company can provide a certain service. Garbage collection for example.
But we are not talking about the global smartphone market, we are talking about the market for apps and games on iOS. And speaking of Android. Google and its Play Store are also on the EU gatekeeper list. They have to implement the same regulations as Apple has to do.
Entry to a given market is not guaranteed as having to be easy. There is no legal barrier stopping entry to the smartphone or cellphone market. Yes it takes money and talent.
If you read the threads this has definitely been said.
The worst of this is the government has a monopoly on the sale of the airwaves and the cell phone companies have a monopoly on the use of the airwaves. It doesn’t get any more facetious than that.
That’s the point is that iOS on a global scale is not a dominant player. I understand on smaller scales apple may be dominant, because it’s insanely popular.
That's not really relevant.
True - the impediment is economic in nature.
Antitrust and and cometition legislators and regulators aren't concerned with the whole world.
Basically back to the same set of core discussions which was started a year and a half ago from those who believe the App Store is good as it stands and those who believe it isn’t.
But for those who think the App Store is good as it is, not much will change.
Not relevant for this discussion at all
Agree.
It's possible for hardware devices, but at this point economically unfeasible for operating systems, due to amount of capital/investment required and the network effects (major one of them: app ecosystems) that cement the status of incumbent developers.
Thst a particular market may be difficult to enter, where there is no legal barriers, should be a red flag the government should keep out of the market. It is not the governments task, imo, to prop up players in a market where there is no legal barrier to entry.
The point is even in the eu as an entirety the iPhone still is a minority by manufacturer. An artificial construct is the o/s market, which manufacturers elect to pay google $1. This is a google issue and not an apple issue.
In this point we fundamentally disagree, because I think the government must also act when economic or technical barriers to entry exist.
The iPhone isn't regulated.
Apple is popular and people spend. You’re now shifting to buying metrics as a justification for regulation.
...just as you seem to shift away from your (oft-repeated) argument that Apple is a "not a dominant" player because Android has higher numbers.
Yeah, and why not?
Okay, so there an admission that both of us shift our arguments to make the point and that apple isn’t a dominant player in the EU by model but apple customers spend a lot in the App Store....just as you seem to shift away from your (oft-repeated) argument that Apple is a "not a dominant" player because Android has higher numbers.
Yeah, and why not?
We know it's about the money, don't we?
After all, you yourself "heartily endorse" the concept of "vot(ing) with your $$$", don't you?
Well, except when it runs counter to your argument that Apple isn't a dominant player in the market, it seems.
I always wondered about what you said last (spend a lot). I bet there are a lot of iPhone users out there including in the EU community that hardly pay anything as far as additional software from App Store and use mostly just the iPhones basic features/apps with some freeware apps. For some more specialized usage like content creation I can see that, but generally laptop/desktop content creative software can be even very expensive, and that is available via web based commerce not just App Store with no percentage given to commerce with Apple.
i wish for Epic Games shareholders to oust Sweeny Tim so Epic Games can thrive again.
Oh okay. That’s a great solution. 🙄 Very consumer friendly.
Yes but all the people calling for an alt app store, what apps are you wanting to load?
Most people probably just want choice & free to download what they want without getting dictated too
so if you cant name some thing specific...
