If you're talking about America's semiconductor problem and not mentioning Intel even once, your view is horribly horribly slanted
It's Matt Stoller. Never expect an honest, non-agenda driven perspective.
Apple is America's semiconductor problem
31–40 of 246 posts
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#32I have zero doubt Apple's influence is considerable and maybe monopolistic or something like that in a number of ways.
But I find an article that doesn't even address any other companies a little hard to swallow. Are other companies simply not able to "reshore" chip fabs?
I have no idea what some of the tidbits thrown in about the apple watch has anything to do with the topic. Let alone some of the heavy handed lines in the article that simply aren't supported as far as I can tell.
Some of the lines in this article seem borderline hysterical...
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#33Post hoc ergo propter hoc. Sure, Apple offshoring their semiconductor mfg compounded the US' lack of domestic semiconductor mfg capacity/expertise.
Apple also did that because it is a _business_, and has not always been the behemoth it is today. They went overseas because it made more sense, not because they had some anti-American goal of crippling US mfg capabilities.
The AELP is, ideologically, a anti-big-co institute, which is admirable but is also why this piece engages in post hoc ergo propter hoc rather than discussing meaningful policy proposals:
> The American Economic Liberties Project launched in February 2020 to help translate the intellectual victories of the anti-monopoly movement into momentum towards concrete, wide-ranging policy changes that begin to address today’s crisis of concentrated economic power
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#34> With this position, Apple uses its outsized buying power to squeeze the margins of its suppliers such as Foxconn, leading to poor pay and terrible working conditions in Chinese factories. I'm sorry what? Poor pay and working conditions in the semiconductor hubs of China has been a problem as long as and before Apple made the iPhone. Apple certainly isn't HELPING that situation, but none of them are. All these fabs…
Monopsony is the correct term here it means that there is only one buyer. A monopoly means that there is only one seller.
Huh. Spell check doesn't know that word I guess, only reason I even caught it.
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#35If you're talking about America's semiconductor problem and not mentioning Intel even once, your view is horribly horribly slanted
Or, the focus is on another company? Just because you talk about Boeing doesn't mean you need to bring up every single competitor to Boeing, no?
If you say Apple is America's semiconductor problem, that's a bit stronger than just "the focus is on another company". The focus is on another company to the exclusion of all else, and that exclusion is creating a rather distorted picture of the actual situation.
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#36I have zero doubt Apple's influence is considerable and maybe monopolistic or something like that in a number of ways. But I find an article that doesn't even address any other companies a little hard to swallow. Are other companies simply not able to "reshore" chip fabs? I have no idea what some of the tidbits thrown in about the apple watch has anything to do with the topic. Let alone some of the heavy handed lines…
> Are other companies simply not able to "reshore" chip fabs?
Intel has fabs in the US, doesn't seem to me after a couple readings that the article isn't about CPU fabs, its about the semiconductor supply chain.
> Some of the tidbits thrown in about the apple watch has anything to do with the topic
They seem part and parcel with ex. the App Store mentions, antitrust, and monopoly references.
> Let alone some of the heavy handed lines in the article that simply aren't supported as far as I can tell.
Such as?
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#37The article makes sense to me. Apple has such a large marketing clout, they are able to set the prices. So prices are so low, they can only be made using boarderline slave labor.
> Apple has such a large marketing clout I think their products are genuinely competitive. It's not just marketing.
I was a Windows and Linux user for nearly two decades before really giving Mac an shot, and still engage regularly with both. My first smartphones were Android. I’ve done tons of development work on both the iOS and Android platforms, and been exposed to a mountain of devices from both.
As far as I’m concerned nobody’s even trying to compete with Apple. There are other personal computing products but none of them address the same market as Apple at all. The tiny set of possible competitors for their space all seem to have decided not to even try.
[edit] and, to be clear, I’d very much prefer that they had competition in their segment. Even if I stuck with them, it’d at least put competitive pressure on them to improve and/or cut prices.
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#38The kind of monopoly apple has is interesting. In the US Apple has a complete monopoly on customers that spend money. If your app shows ads, apple customers are more valuable. If your app sells any kind of product apple users buy more. Market power is not determined by the number of users but by control of revenue.
Nothing you mentioned could be described as a monopoly. Monopoly has a definition, we can't just make it up as we go.
When a supplier has oursized market power that's monopoly.
When a buyer has outsized market power it's called a monopsony.
I guess that's the concept gp is reaching for.
Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#39The kind of monopoly apple has is interesting. In the US Apple has a complete monopoly on customers that spend money. If your app shows ads, apple customers are more valuable. If your app sells any kind of product apple users buy more. Market power is not determined by the number of users but by control of revenue.
Nothing you mentioned could be described as a monopoly. Monopoly has a definition, we can't just make it up as we go.
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Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem
#40Two hundred years ago, it was understood that national borders were things that neither persons, nor goods, nor money, nor information should routinely cross. That understanding was correct and necessary, and must perforce be regained, after who knows what further unnecessary harm has been done.