Apple CEO Tim Cook Talks Antitrust Investigation, Trump Relationship, Working From Home and More in Interview

[Nuno Lopes]

No one is saying that Apple has an Monopoly in the smartphones space, but through the market share on smartphones they do in the sales of digital service and Apps In the US.

If you want to check the dimension of the above... just step out of the door, and imagine one in two commercial establishment is with an Apple logo (from digital schools down to digital coffee and “slot“ machines / games). To add to the thing ... the customers that go to one store, do not go to the other. That is it. Now they argue that businesses can simply offer a web app and avoid sharing 30% of their smartphone revenue, true, but that shows how much they cam effectively dictate the ways businesses can reach their customers in half the the commercial venues in your street.

We just don‘t see these store, they are on peoples pockets and hands.

 

[hot-gril]

Yes, Musk is refreshing, he says what he means. And he's a complex, highly intelligent, high achieving, human, so what he thinks can be surprising and complex and mind blowing.

And sometimes he says things people don't like, or things that aren't so great. Nobody's perfect. I don't even bother listening to what Cook, Pichai, etc say since it's all empty talk.

 

[hot-gril]

No one is saying that Apple has an Monopoly in the smartphones space, but through the market share on smartphones they do in the sales of digital service and Apps In the US.

If you want to check the dimension of the above... just step out of the door, and imagine one in two commercial establishment is with an Apple logo (from digital schools down to digital coffee and “slot“ machines / games). To add to the thing ... the customers that go to one store, do not go to the other. That is it. Now they argue that businesses can simply offer a web app and avoid sharing 30% of their smartphone revenue, true, but that shows how much they cam effectively dictate the ways businesses can reach their customers in half the the commercial venues in your street.

We just don‘t see these store, they are on peoples pockets and hands.

The physical store analogies are never great, but the closest is the shopping mall.

 

[hot-gril]

And what would Musk say? You're talking about a guy who said "we'll coup whoever we want". If anything, he would probably fully support the Chinese government openly, since Tesla is huge in China. I'd rather have Cook say nothing than him saying something stupid.

Musk has been diplomatic dealing with China and Turkey. Says great things about the countries he does business with. He's more honest than other CEOs but not _that_ honest.

 

[I7guy]

No one is saying that Apple has an Monopoly in the smartphones space, but through the market share on smartphones they do in the sales of digital service and Apps In the US.

If you want to check the dimension of the above... just step out of the door, and imagine one in two commercial establishment is with an Apple logo (from digital schools down to digital coffee and “slot“ machines / games). To add to the thing ... the customers that go to one store, do not go to the other. That is it. Now they argue that businesses can simply offer a web app and avoid sharing 30% of their smartphone revenue, true, but that shows how much they cam effectively dictate the ways businesses can reach their customers in half the the commercial venues in your street.

We just don‘t see these store, they are on peoples pockets and hands.

So Apple has a legal monopoly in the manufacturing of iphones. They also have a legal monopoly in the distribution of IOS. They also have a legal monopoly of Apple TV. They also have a legal monopoly on icloud. They also have a legal monopoly on the ios app store and can dictate fees and policies.

Google also has a legal monopoly on the play store. But there is no monopoly on app stores.

 

[Carnegie]

So Apple has a legal monopoly in the manufacturing of iphones. They also have a legal monopoly in the distribution of IOS. They also have a legal monopoly of Apple TV. They also have a legal monopoly on icloud. They also have a legal monopoly on the ios app store and can dictate fees and policies.

Google also has a legal monopoly on the play store. But there is no monopoly on app stores.

The problem is, based on antitrust law precedent, Apple could be considered to have market power in a market defined as iOS app distribution. If that were considered an antitrust market in itself, Apple would definitely have market power - essentially monopoly power - in that market. And based on it having that power, certain actions - e.g., improper tying to other markets or exlusionary conduct - could be found to be violations of our antitrust laws.

It wouldn't be the tying of iOS app distribution to iOS device sales which would be the problem. It would be that iOS app distribution was itself a separate and relevant antitrust market. It would be that as an aftermarket, but that relevant antitrust market could still be the basis of various antitrust violations.

The reality that Apple doesn't have sufficient market power in the primary market - e.g., smartphones - doesn't preclude it from having sufficient market power in the aftermarket - e.g., iOS app distribution. The Supreme Court has been clear on this point.

 

[stars_fan]

Not at an enterprise scale. Get with the times.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Team Viewer? I'm talking about Microsoft Teams or Slack, which it sounds like you've used neither otherwise you'd understand how ill prepared Apple was to handle WFH.

There was even an article on MR about employees complaining about how Apple has no good ways to WFH.

Yikes

They use Webex Teams. I have several people I work with at Apple.

Enterprises that use MS Stickers Teams are really bad at IT or saddle with overpriced O365 subscriptions.

 

[I7guy]

The problem is, based on antitrust law precedent, Apple could be considered to have market power in a market defined as iOS app distribution. If that were considered an antitrust market in itself, Apple would definitely have market power - essentially monopoly power - in that market. And based on it having that power, certain actions - e.g., improper tying to other markets or exlusionary conduct - could be found to be violations of our antitrust laws.

It wouldn't be the tying of iOS app distribution to iOS device sales which would be the problem. It would be that iOS app distribution was itself a separate and relevant antitrust market. It would be that as an aftermarket, but that relevant antitrust market could still be the basis of various antitrust violations.

The reality that Apple doesn't have sufficient market power in the primary market - e.g., smartphones - doesn't preclude it from having sufficient market power in the aftermarket - e.g., iOS app distribution. The Supreme Court has been clear on this point.

You brought this point up in a prior post.

For right now, this is the status quo until the challenge winds it's way through the process and either changes or not.

 

[btrach144]

They use Webex Teams. I have several people I work with at Apple.

Enterprises that use MS Stickers Teams are really bad at IT or saddle with overpriced O365 subscriptions.

I use Teams daily and WebEx 3 times a week. Webex isn’t even in the same league. It’s trash compared to Teams.

And with the latest announcements that Microsoft unveiled for teams yesterday, the gap only grows.

The matter of fact is that Apple isn’t setup for long term WFH. There was an article from employees who verified this. Not my word but literally theirs.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

And sometimes he says things people don't like, or things that aren't so great. Nobody's perfect. I don't even bother listening to what Cook, Pichai, etc say since it's all empty talk.

Yep, Captain Crook is nothing but a bean counter and PR spin agent, an empty greedy shallow soul-less shell, and it is showing in Apple products more and more. Musk is a legendary inventor, who will go down in history as changing the world. Musk has even eclipsed Jobs already, and it feels like he's just getting warmed up, and Jobs has big shoes to fill.

 

[star-affinity]

The reality that Apple doesn't have sufficient market power in the primary market - e.g., smartphones - doesn't preclude it from having sufficient market power in the aftermarket - e.g., iOS app distribution.

Exactly what I was thinking. Would be interetsing to have Tim Cook comment on that instead.

 

[I7guy]

Yep, Captain Crook is nothing but a bean counter and PR spin agent, an empty greedy shallow soul-less shell, and it is showing in Apple products more and more. Musk is a legendary inventor, who will go down in history as changing the world. Musk has even eclipsed Jobs already, and it feels like he's just getting warmed up, and Jobs has big shoes to fill.

What did musk invent? Not the electric vehicle. He did invent Tesla and the car is popular but soon to be in a sea of competitors.

But yeah, Mr. Cook is taking Apple to the next level.

edit: Mr. Cook can remove the above from his bucket list.

 

[chucker23n1]

He did invent Tesla

He joined Tesla and retroactively made himself a “founder”.

To his credit, I think he had the right strategy to make Tesla popular and ignore the naysayers. But he didn’t found Tesla.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Musk has been diplomatic dealing with China and Turkey. Says great things about the countries he does business with. He's more honest than other CEOs but not _that_ honest.

I can’t agree. He lied in the “funding secured” tweet and the EPA recently called him a liar when Musk claimed the supposed “world’s first 400 mile range” only tested at 391 due to an error by EPA in leaving a door open all night. Musk claims the error resulted in the test being conducted with the battery partially drained instead of with a fully charged battery.

Did Musk lie on the earnings call, or is the EPA lying? He claims to have logs but has yet to provide them. So there’s no public evidence either way, but I do know who has more motivation to lie, and who is a proven liar.