I don't know if you are trolling, are unable to comprehend well enough, or some other reason that you are failing to grasp what the conversation is about, i.e. the need for competition for the Industry to thrive. Anyhow, be ignorant if you want to I guess.
Your original position was that a lack of competition would lead to higher prices by Apple. I have been thinking about this since I read your argument yesterday, and I disagree with it on a fundamental level. I am still not 100% satisfied with the way I have crafted my response, but here goes.
It is my observation that Apple’s pricing strategy is not based on the idea of forcing users to pay an “Apple Tax”. Instead, Apple prices its products in a way that maximises gross margin and revenue on an absolute basis.
For example, it’s common to poke fun at Apple users for their apparent cluelessness in paying more for an Apple-branded laptop despite cheaper alternatives being available. Over time, this has morphed into a form of criticism aimed at Apple products which are higher-priced than the competition (which in Apple’s case, is basically everything they sell).
I disagree with this line of logic for the simple reason that Apple doesn’t license their software to third parties, so there is no way of knowing just how much a third party vendor would have sold an equivalent Macbook for. As such, a Macbook running Apple software ends up offering a very different experience compared to a windows laptop, even if both have similar hardware specs on paper.
As such, I feel it is more accurate to say that any “Apple Tax” actually reflects the value of software which Apple believes affords its users, rather than some arbitrary premium conjured out of thin air.
So even there were less or no competition in the market tomorrow, I don’t believe that Apple would meaningfully raise their prices, because of the laws of supply and demand. What Apple likely has done (and will continue to do) is forecast how much a product’s price will impact consumer demand for said product. The higher a product is priced, the less it will sell. Price it too low, and you leave money on the table. The trick is to find that sweet spot where units sold x gross margins (revenue - costs) is at its highest.
It may be tempting to look at the way Apple prices some of their products and conclude that Apple is trying to milk its user base. However, I believe that their incentive is not to squeeze every last dollar out of our pockets, but to expand the Apple user base and provide us with great experiences.
We see this in Apple’s declining hardware margins (caused mainly by higher iphone costs, and which is partially offset by service revenue, contrary to popular criticism). We see this in Apple expanding their product portfolio to cover a wider range of prices.
It is this design-led business model (focusing on the experience rather than the technology) that has enabled Apple to grab monopoly-like share of industry profits. Not by charging an Apple Tax, but by making great products that people are willing to pay a premium for.
So yeah, I disagree with your original premise that a lack of competition would lead to Apple charging its users more for products, or that it may somehow lead to a slowing down in innovation, because that’s not what drives Apple. They don’t aim to outdo the competition, but to make great products for their users.