[threeseed]

Except that you have artificially defined the market to be "applications on an iOS device" instead of "mobile applications".

By that definition Microsoft has a monopoly over XBox games, Tesla has a monopoly over their car apps, Sony has a monopoly over their DSLR apps etc, Salesforce has a monopoly over their marketplace apps etc.

Any antitrust action based on your definition would actually set a precedent that would unravel every single marketplace product. Hence pretty unrealistic.

[horsawlarway]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor....

Literally this exact issue - MS was locking Windows to IE as a browser.

[Redoubts]

Windows had 90% market share then.

[horsawlarway]

Yes, and between Android and iOS, Apple and Google have captured ~98% of global the smartphone market in 2018.

Apple accounts for roughly 47% US market share to Google's 52%. Apple's app store generated 33 billion of the total 57.4 billion in revenue in 2018, with Google taking the rest.

They both operate app stores in very similar models, and both of them clearly need attention.

Just because two competitors happen to be splitting the profits from abuse doesn't make it any less of an issue.

I wish them the best while operating a distribution and marketing channel. I think it should be entirely illegal for them to prevent other channels from being created and installed on their systems.

To be clear - this is the definition of cartel behavior. They both operate walled gardens precisely because they know it makes a 3rd party breaking into the market an astonishingly small possibility, and they have both carved out a marketing strategy in the US that mostly doesn't overlap.

[threeseed]

This comment is all over the place.

So now it's gone from Apple being a monopoly to it actually being a duopoly that is impossible for third parties to compete in.

Even though there are plenty of app manufacturers with their own stores e.g. Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei etc.

[horsawlarway]

Samsung and Xiaomi don't offer stores as distribution channels to 3rd parties. They offer an app on both Google and Apple's app stores to facilitate installing their own software.

I'm not as familiar with Huawei, so I'll go look. But basically - I don't find this a compelling counterpoint. They have a helper app to install their own content, still regulated by Apple and Google's distribution channel - That does not an app store make.

And yes - My stance since the beginning has been that both Apple and Google are actively working to keep the status quo around software distribution and app monetization.

Further, they both pretty clearly have divided the content space.

Google - Focused on free apps as a channel to push ads, with less care on quality

Apple - Focused on higher quality apps with a higher price tag.

They've managed to capture an incredibly large market (70 billion in 2018) of which they simply get to suck 30% with no chance of competition.

They also happen to charge exactly the same rate for their services (30%) which I'm sure you'll also take as a clear sign they aren't cooperating in this market...