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Free registration at the forum removes this block.I don't know how to say this logically, but intuitively, I feel that the fact that Apple opened up the app store to 3rd party developers makes the difference here. If they wrote all the apps themselves, I'd have no issue with them. It would still be a monopoly, but it wouldn't be a market.
Maybe Apple could allow users to add non-Apple "App Stores", like an "iOS Epic App Store". Apple could keep them separate from the official App Store, but at least users could add them if they wanted.
As the world goes mobile/cloud, Apple and Google are going to end up with a 30% tax on all commerce, unless something changes.
I'd love to see Epic make their own smartphone and their own app store. Perhaps they will. Fortnite alone has the power to support it. Then consumers will decide whether to support Epic, or not, and that is all there is to do about it.
I think we will agree to disagree on the monopoly part. I just googled the definition of the word 'monopoly.' Its plainly obvious to me that a *market* (if Apple wrote all the apps themselves, I'd have zero issue with them) with 100,000,000 users in the US alone, who use no other mobile device, that is controlled exclusively by one company, is a monopoly. If its not to you, that's fine.
I think the real question is what to do about it. I don't have an answer for you. You think I'm for government intervention. I'm not. I am, however, concerned about what monopoly power does to overall free-market innovation. I think it stifles it. I'm ok with some stifling of innovation in the interest of rewarding monopolies with the fruits of their labor. I'm not ok with large amounts of stifling of innovation. Where that line gets drawn? I don't know.
By the time that legal fight would be over (5 years or so), Fortnite would be obsolete.it may have been for this legal fight.
Great idea! Actually I’ve been emailing Jeff Bezos every year to create an Amazon smartphone to push the underdeveloped but superb potential of the Amazon App Store!
No answer as yet!
As the world goes mobile/cloud, Apple and Google are going to end up with a 30% tax on all commerce, unless something changes.
I can't buy a book on my iOS Kindle App because Apple wanted to charge Amazon 30% for each book purchase. Those books are not hosted on Apple servers. If I want to sell a red cape in an iOS superhero game, Apple will demand 30%, even if I am just changing the cape's color in my code. Apple wants 30% of every sale done inside an app.
I wonder if Apple's 30% tax is preventing someone from making a car buying/selling app.
I get where @Kak is coming from. The problem with monopolies is that the economy progresses up to the point where the monopoly asserts is power and stifles progress. I don't think we want this. It will reduce our overall economic development.Now Facebooks getting Into the fight!
Facebook pushes back against Apple's App Store fees
Facebook joined the growing ranks of companies publicly complaining about the 30% fee that Apple collects on payments made through its App Store. Thosetechcrunch.com
I’m an indie app dev and do like the Apple App Stores quality! But I also hate their inconsistent Review Policy!
Kak has a podcast supporting Apple and Google’s control as they went to the trouble of setting up the darn things... which I respect, but as a dev and an app user I’d still like to see more variety... as in the end quasi-monopolies/cartels stale and act against their customers interests!
It’s def not a black and white issue!
Its plainly obvious to me that a *market* (if Apple wrote all the apps themselves, I'd have zero issue with them) with 100,000,000 users in the US alone, who use no other mobile device, that is controlled exclusively by one company, is a monopoly. If its not to you, that's fine.
Apple's users do have a choice as to which phone they buy. However, once they make that choice, the ONLY way to access that user to sell them a mobile phone app is through Apple's store. I call that a monopoly.
Now Facebooks getting Into the fight!
Facebook pushes back against Apple's App Store fees
Facebook joined the growing ranks of companies publicly complaining about the 30% fee that Apple collects on payments made through its App Store. Thosetechcrunch.com
I’m an indie app dev and do like the Apple App Stores quality! But I also hate their inconsistent Review Policy!
Kak has a podcast supporting Apple and Google’s control as they went to the trouble Of setting up the darn things... which I respect but as a dev and an app user I’d still like to see more variety... as in the end monopolies eventually stale and act against their customers interests!
It’s def not black and white...
Apple and Google are able to get away with charging fees on in-app purchases because they control the infrastructure those apps have to be hosted on and are the gatekeepers to apps on those platforms.
economic monopolies are a temporary condition
Definitely a few fastlane possibilties in here....
I think we will agree to disagree on the monopoly part. I just googled the definition of the word 'monopoly.' Its plainly obvious to me that a *market* (if Apple wrote all the apps themselves, I'd have zero issue with them) with 100,000,000 users in the US alone, who use no other mobile device, that is controlled exclusively by one company, is a monopoly. If its not to you, that's fine.@Jon L Apple is not a monopoly. People choose to use Apple instead of other options.
And because there are indeed other options, Apple cannot possibly be a monopoly. There are even entire ecosystems not dependent on Apple, or Google either.
Plus last I checked, most Apple lovers see their tight control as a plus, not a con.
As is most often the case, the government is not the solution. Consumers have power over Apple, and always will. Apple's current offerings are what the consumers demand, far more so than not.
Having them overcharging services is really a smaller issue.Imagine if you are an app creator or internet business service provider.
After two years you have spend money and time and validated your concept in a niche.
A giant company (worth hundreds of billions) noticed you. They copied your business idea, charge it for free and burn cash, poach your managers with 3x pay.
Good luck fighting it with your bank loan on your house refinancing.
For every successful acquisition story that you sell, a business owner who sold his company to a giant, there could be 20 more promising start-ups that have been killed by them. They were just not in the news.
Having a few giants with “almost infinite” resources is not a good playing field for entrepreneurs.
People do not think it is a problem until it hurts them.
The users have a choice in which phones they buy. There isn’t a monopoly in the smart phone market.
Now if you want to say that the Apple ecosystem is a market, then yes there is only one App Store. One place that you can buy apps.
However, is a store within a company a market?
If I open up an Ecom store and only auction third party seller watches. Can a seller tell me to auction cars also? My Ecom store is my market. If they want to auction cars they can start their own store. Does it matter if I have 100 customers or 100 million customers?
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