Apple has a monopoly on iOS app stores. No other stores sell iOS apps.
Sony doesn't have a monopoly on PS4 game stores. Sony doesn't own a every PS4 game store.
Guess, how the PS4 games get into "PS4 game stores"? You have to go though Sony. No seriously. Explain how you are going to get any physical disk retail PS4 game to function on a PS4 without agreeing to a licensing deal with Sony. You have to agree to Sony's terms, you have to pay Sony's cut, and use their distribution methods to get your game to appear on store shelves. Perhaps you as a developer can sell your work to a publisher - but the publisher, again, has to go to Sony to get the game on the PS4. The publisher in-turn, is going to make you pay for that connection.
If you want to sell on PSN - do you have a 3rd party PNS game store you can talk to? Nope. You need to talk to Sony.
All roads lead to Sony - Sony monopolizes their PS4. So is this illegal / anti-competitive?
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I’m sorry but the level of delusion in some of these posts is on another level.
As a senior product owner in a large software base company, I can categorically state it is a monopoly. Period.
Why?
We cannot publish anything for iOS consumers to download without the approval from Apple.
They make up and change the rules on every submission and have the final say on our software going live.
We have no other choice to use in regard to publishing software.
Do you know why this is? It's actually already been settle since the early 1980's.
Those who are slightly older may remember the IE / Microsoft scandal where MS we’re preloading it’s browser and defaulting it to IE? Guess what?! Apple do exactly the same meaning PWA apps require a Chrome download and it’s not simple for the average user to change the default choice.
That was actually quite a different thing - What was the outcome from Microsoft using their defacto market monopoly (mind you which Apple does not enjoy) to push IE adoption? Was that ultimately found to be illegal?
Additionally Apple control all the MFi certification, W1/2 chips and they also control API’s that for example don’t allow me to search for music on Spotify when I use CarPlay but it’ll happily allow me to search Apple Music (even if I’m not subscribed to it).
Isn't 80% of the mobile phone market Android? It's got everything you want - better hardware, better operating system, freedom to customize, freedom to sideload, 3rd party app stores, less phone notching, etc. You don't even have to use any App store, at all. Just sell directly off your website to customers. Why are you spending any time, personally yourself in that eco system, let alone programming for it. What's wrong with all those advantages that Android provides that makes iOS worth any of your time, personally or business-wise.
This is all categorically controlling and monopolistic behaviour.
If the US doesn’t find Apple guilty of this, I’m confident the EU commission will.
Ask yourself, why is it only now being discussed? Or, possibly has this already happened, been discussed, and is settled law? Yes. Yes, it has. What is actually ultimately being asked here is whether the preceding case law precedence from 40 years ago needs to be reviewed and / or scoped.
The monopoly that Apple has, in and of itself, is not illegal. However, being anti-competitive is.