Maybe this will get Tim Cook's attention?
P.S. Tim, you have gone to far. Even if you win the case. #justSayin
U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
371–380 of 1001 posts
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#372It's wild to me to see people defending Apple in the comments here. 60% of Americans own a phone they're not allowed to install third party apps on, and the ONLY way to get apps is to pay a 30% fee to Apple on every purchase. Imagine if Windows allowed you to only install apps acquired through their store, and with the same 30% fee. Microsoft literally had a huge anti trust case against them for simply setting a defa…
It's nothing like a slam dunk case. In fact, it's an attempt by DOJ to stretch and redefine the edges of their rights under anti-trust rules. It's also nothing like Microsoft -- Microsoft was a monopoly, full stop, in the 1990s. They were well over 90% of desktop market share in business, and likely close in consumer. And as 1990s era Microsoft employees will remind you if you ask them -- "there's nothing wrong with…
>You might, like me, feel Apple's App store walled garden is on balance a net positive, leaving me with almost no worries related to upgrade problems, my family's phones being compromised by malware, etc, or you might like many others hate the controls
You realize the app store can remain a walled garden, and users can be allowed to install their own applications right?
It's wild to me the number of people who argue for less freedom when the topic of Apple's walled garden comes up.
>It's also nothing like Microsoft -- Microsoft was a monopoly, full stop, in the 1990s.
Plenty of anti trust cases have been brought against companies that don't have 90% of a market. 60+% is quite a lot.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#373Who knew the US would try to destroy their biggest export market
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#374I will never understand why people who don’t like the apple ecosystem just simply don’t buy apple products. It’s just really strange to me that it’s considered to be a monopoly when no one is forced to use the platform, there are other options out there.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#375For folks who don't have time to read a 90 page document, the case rests on specific claims, not just the general claim that iPhone is a monopoly because it's so big. Here are those claims: 1. "Super Apps" Apple has restrictions on what they allow on the App Store as far as "Super Apps", which are apps that might offer a wide variety of different services (specifically, an app which has several "mini programs" within…
All of these are pretty sane, except for: > Also, the Apple Watch itself does not offer compatibility with Android Will they force Samsung and Google to have their watches interoperate with iOS too, or are they exempt because they are bit players in the field?
1. Samsung watch actually used to support iPhones. They dropped the support, likely due to business reasons and the limitations as described here
2. My naive understanding is that the question is not forcing anyone to support anything, but rather the ability to make it possible to do so. If Apple wants to have full support for Android phones, they are welcome to do so, but not vice versa -- nobody can possibly create a smartwatch that works as well as Apple Watch with iPhones.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#376For folks who don't have time to read a 90 page document, the case rests on specific claims, not just the general claim that iPhone is a monopoly because it's so big. Here are those claims: 1. "Super Apps" Apple has restrictions on what they allow on the App Store as far as "Super Apps", which are apps that might offer a wide variety of different services (specifically, an app which has several "mini programs" within…
1. Super Apps are notorious for tracking the user across the "mini" apps within it, which is the argument made by Apple for making them hard to get approval for. I'm on Apple's side here 2. I was able to use PS Remote Play on my iPhone even many years ago (pre-COVID). A quick google search shows that Steam Link and Shadow PC (my ATF) are also available on iOS. I'm on Apple's side here too 3. I think the situation has…
> Who cares about smartwatches
219.43 million people use smartwatches
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#377Even if this eventually fails, I'll be very happy to read all the internal Apple documents that come out of this. It's going to be fun.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#378> The Justice Department, which began its investigation into Apple in 2019, chose to build a broader and more ambitious case than any other regulator has brought against the company. As I was reading the specific charges detailed in the article, I was thinking this case seems like a stretch and will be difficult to prove. Apple will argue that security and/or performance reasons drove their decisions related to brows…
> Apple will argue that security and/or performance reasons drove their decisions related to browser choice
Didn't work in Europe. The alternative browser growth in Europe is massive. Literally, an industry revitalized overnight.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#379Apple has about 60% of the smartphone market in the US, and about 25% globally. That's a pretty big stretch to call it a monopoly. There are many non-apple phone options that many consumers easily avail themselves of. And at least one other OS choice as well. All of these are fully supported by the entire ecosystem of telcos. Seems like bullying to score political points to me.
60% sounds good enough for DoJ to sue, as a US government agency. Why do you even bother to quote "25% globally", it's meaningless here.
Re: U.S. sues Apple, accusing it of maintaining an iPhone monopoly
#380It's wild to me to see people defending Apple in the comments here. 60% of Americans own a phone they're not allowed to install third party apps on, and the ONLY way to get apps is to pay a 30% fee to Apple on every purchase. Imagine if Windows allowed you to only install apps acquired through their store, and with the same 30% fee. Microsoft literally had a huge anti trust case against them for simply setting a defa…
60% of Americans CHOOSE to own a phone that has those features... I think that is the issue. Android offers (nearly) all of the same functionality and yet people still choose iPhone. Abusing your ecosystem is one thing (ex. defaulting to Apple Maps for location links, only allowing Safari as default browser), but not allowing 3P app stores seems perfectly within a company's rights. Amazon isn't forced to list your pr…
>Abusing your ecosystem is one thing (ex. defaulting to Apple Maps for location links, only allowing Safari as default browser), but not allowing 3P app stores seems perfectly within a company's rights.
Is taxing every purchase on your platform for 30% not abusing your ecosystem?
>I think that is the issue. Android offers (nearly) all of the same functionality and yet people still choose iPhone.
iMessage is a non zero cause of this, and looking at the percentage of teens with iPhones, 85+%, likely a colossal cause. Which directly falls into Apple abusing their ecosystem.