“Only platform on iOS” is as relevant as the fact that the only place you can get Big Macs is mcdonalds. It doesn’t matter.
A monopoly actually has a definition. Can you set prices irrespective of the demand curve. And as recent evidence shows us, apple certainly cannot.
Yes.
Investigation over. Glad to help.
It's a free market for user choice not to be influenced by the controlling party for preference to one service or product over another. Apple doesn't negotiate individually varying contracts with each developer. The contract is the same. Private marketplaces negotiate individual contracts which have varying stipulations and preferences. So, you're wrong.
Solid legal argument.Apple is not a monopoly.
Apple is not a monopoly.
Didn’t even know the Netherlands cared.
I am sure you did not mean it this way but it may come out as xenophobic.Didn’t even know the Netherlands cared.
In a laissez-faire, meaning to free market then it also refers to unobstructed competition. The obstruction would be limiting the means by which a competitor has the freedom to offer subscription services through the app which doesn't directly pass through Apple which offers the in-app service as a payment processor. So, the App Store is a free marketplace for iOS users which has policies in-place that all developers, including themselves, which must abide by. This also means they can't restrict or place an unfair burden on their competitors. The argument is for them being anti-trust. Apple didn't want to open the App Store as a private, individually negotiated marketplace per each developer. All of them, including themselves as developers on the iOS software platform who use the App Store are bound by the same freedom from scrutiny in offering their service. They don't bare a burden of loss from in-app purchases. However, a class action suit could stipulate that Apple's growth was greatly influenced by third-parties and their competitors and should be given the same freedom from those burdens without unnecessary restrictions. Apple has to prove their restrictions are necessary for the end user. They would have to argue that without them, then the end user suffers from the experience and/or risks involved. The counterargument is that these restrictions aren't in place on a multitude of other software/hardware platforms which have posed no greater risk or loss in user experience.Definition of Free Market "an economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses." The competition is not unrestricted, Apple Places restriction on what you can sell in the App Store. A free market is one that is not governed, the AppStore is governed, you can't just put any product you want in there.
Do they have a competitive advantage over non-Apple software developers? Yes, they do, because they don't have to pay a 30% fee to the app store, and can price that into their products. Is that monopolistic or anti-competitive? Probably not, though it may be skirting the boundaries. IANAL, so I'll leave the details to those who are.
Rather than engage in such behavior, I'd rather see them spend the billions in education. Providing macs or iOS devices to schools below cost. Supporting them. They need to engage young users. The billions spent on tv plus will never yield a profit either.. Get back to supporting businesses. There's PC and android share to steal.
But, they didn't allow just their apps in the App Store. They allowed it to be offered as a service to third-party developers, some being competitors, and therein created a free marketplace for software on the iOS platform. So, the App Store can't be anti-competitive or create an anti-trust and if the argument is posed that they are in a particular fashion, then the burden of proof is on Apple to show that their tactic doesn't influence user choice of their service over a competitors.
Wow, I didn't know we had so many lawyers specializing in antitrust issues on MR. Even more surprising, it's also the same individuals who always criticize Apple for just about anything they do. What are the odds of that?
It’s a tad different though. You don’t have an investment in Walmart when you shop there, you can cross the street and head to Target. When you use an iPhone or Android, you’re more dug into the ecosystem and are forced to use whatever Apple or Google chooses.But you could have chose android. No forces you to use Apple. If Apple owns the AppStore they should be able to do as they choose with it.