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Totally agreed. And does Apple has a "dominant position" in text messaging? They have around 60% of total phone market share [1], but that seems like a far cry from, say, 80% or 90%, which is what I'd consider "dominant."

Microsoft had over 90% market share of the world's personal computers in the 1990s [2], which I'd also consider dominant... and which did result in some similar antitrust lawsuits.

1. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/iphone-android-users

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft



Saying they don't have a monopoly over those services is still a stawman. They don't have a monopoly on music streaming, but they actively force Spotify to effectively support their own competitor via their 30% fee. Apple TV+ does not have more subscribers than Netflix, but apple famously makes rules that hinder Netflix ability to be competitive on iOS.

And if Apple was all about making the better product, why don't they allow the app developers to use their own payment processors. If Apple IAP was so superior to everything else, users and developers alike would surely gladly pay the 20x markup?

But heck, they don't even allow an App developer to tell their users about a cheaper price on their website or why the product is more expensive on iOS.

Wether you like it or not, as soon as a platform becomes as big as iOS or Android, market watchdogs will come to town. And that is good thing, because with competition the user usually profits over the long term.


Apple does not force Spotify to support its competition. Spotify does not offer any IAP so in fact it’s Apple that is giving away all its R&D into AVFoundation and various other cutting edge APIs for free to its competition. Apple does not make any money from Spotify.

It’s true when you become as successful as Apple, the rentiers will come knocking. That doesn’t make the rentiers’ case particularly strong or honorable.


Apple doesn’t build the platform as a generous gift to developers on their platform. The build this stuff because they have to, otherwise iOS would be an awful platform for developers and by extension the users of Apples platform.

You are pretending you cannot build a foundational platform without double dipping, yet they do with macOS.


> otherwise iOS would be an awful platform for developers and by extension the users of Apples platform

This seems to imply that iOS is a a good platform for developers, and by extension, the users of Apple's platform.


The alternatives to "awful" include adjectives other than "good".


I think it was pretty clear what I mean. Good, great, slightly good, amazing. It’s the same thing.




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