[nutshell89]

I guess this is the biggest argument for breaking up the tech giants - not only are there clear examples of each company either abusing public trust or using their size in anti-competitive ways, but their wealth shields them from having to meaningfully engage with the public at large or reign in said behavior.

[scarface74]

There are alternative to each of the four. No one forces anyone to use any of their products.

Definitely no one forces people to buy Apple’s products at a large premium over their competitors. I would say that Apple has to work harder to get users to willingly depart with their cash.

[alwillis]

>I would say that Apple has to work harder to get users to willingly depart with their cash.

Actually, it's often the opposite. In the Boston area, the Apple Stores are always packed while the Microsoft Store (now closed) was usually mostly empty in the high-end mall across the street from the stand-alone Boylston Street Apple Store.

Price isn't the primary factor for many people, especially younger people.

First, there's no real price difference between high-end Android phones—the newest Samsung, for example—and similar iPhones.

A Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 128GB list price is $1399; the iPhone 11 Pro Max with 256GB (double the storage) is $1249. That's $52.04/month.

I worked with 24 public high school kids last summer. Most of them were from 1st or 2nd generation immigrant families and would qualify for free or reduced lunch at school. Every one of them had a newer model iPhone than my 6s at the time.

Zero Android devices.

Which confirmed something I learned from market analysis years ago regarding Apple: people with limited funds can't afford to make a mistake when spending their limited money, which is why they tend to gravitate to higher quality, better made products.

Yes, there was the typical desire for teens to have the right sneakers, t-shirt, jeans, etc. The iPhone is definitely in that category, with 85% of them either owning or intending to buy an iPhone: https://www.phonearena.com/news/teens-love-apple_id123682.

[scarface74]

> Actually, it's often the opposite. In the Boston area, the Apple Stores are always packed while the Microsoft Store (now closed) was usually mostly empty in the high-end mall across the street from the stand-alone Boylston Street Apple Store.

We know that anecdote says nothing. The only thing that the Microsoft store and Apple store sell in common are computers and Mac marketshare is around 10%. It’s not even close.

> Price isn't the primary factor for many people, especially younger people.

If price weren’t the determining factor, the average iPhone buyer wouldn’t live in a household in the US with A 40% higher income.

https://www.comscore.com/ita/Public-Relations/Infographics/i...

> First, there's no real price difference between high-end Android phones—the newest Samsung, for example—and similar iPhones. A Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 128GB list price is $1399; the iPhone 11 Pro Max with 256GB (double the storage) is $1249. That's $52.04/month.

Only in the US. My understanding is that most of the rest of the world doesn’t have monthly payment options where the price delta would be more apparent.

But also, there are high end Android phones that cost the same, but out of the Android manufactures, Samsung has the highest average selling price, and it’s like $290 - $100 less than the cheapest iPhone. They haven’t been able to convince many people to pay for high end phones.

> The iPhone is definitely in that category, with 85% of them either owning or intending to buy an iPhone:

A survey also showed that 58% of iPod owners “intended” to buy a Zune in 2006....

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2006/11/5826/

[alwillis]

If price weren’t the determining factor, the average iPhone buyer wouldn’t live in a household in the US with A 40% higher income.

I can tell you based on where I live and who I work with, there are many people who are low and moderate income who own iPhones now.

They don’t buy their phones outright like some people do; they usually can’t drop $1000 in one go on something that’s not their rent.

However, low and moderate income people can pay $10 or $20 a month for the phone while using prepaid services.

To be blunt, that’s why poor inner city kids can rock very nice iPhones.

An iPhone SE is $200 on a carrier deal; it’s a better phone than anything else in that price range that low and moderate income people can afford.

[mamon]

>> Apple’s products at a large premium over their competitors

What premium? Right now I'm trying to decide between Dell XPS 9500 and MacBook Pro 16" and with similar spec MacBook is actually the cheaper option.

In the smartphone space top Samsung models are also priced similarily to iPhones

[scarface74]

But they aren’t actually selling.

Samsung’s average selling price is $290....