Turns out smartphone security is not the only thing people in Washington D.C. are willfully obtuse about. Writing for The Hill, Glenn B. Manishin says it’s “Time to prosecute Apple for monopolization.”
Sure. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.
Really, if there was a time, it was 10 years ago when Apple had the digital music player market locked up. That time, however, is long past and Apple controls not a single market. Unless you’re talking about profit share, which you’re not.
…the FTC is faced with a radically restructured technology market in which smartphones and tablets—and thus Apple, by far the platform leader in that space with its iPhone, iOS operating system, iPad and App Store—have all but replaced desktop PCs.
Did it hurt, Glenn?
When you fell from Bonko Crazytown Cloud Village with this argument?
Now, the Macalope is not a lawyer, so forgive his ignorance, but he’s pretty sure that “platform leader” as defined here is about as meaningful in antitrust law as “6 Sigma Ninja” or “sandwich artist.” If you’re unaware, the Macalope will refer you to the collected works of Business Insider to find out which operating system has the largest market share and who’s doing all the “winning” versus just being a niche player. Because you apparently have it completely backwards.
Yes, Apple is resoundingly, loudly, and daily chastised for having a smaller slice of the market than Android and yet they’re supposedly the ones who should be sued for antitrust violations. Very weird how that works.
Apple’s ubiquitous smartphones and tablets are instead today the critical platform for U.S. consumers to engage in mobile computing and to consume digital media.
Apple’s devices are ubiquitous. They are literally everywhere. There are no other devices.
Apple may have defined the smartphone market as it currently exists and it may set a lot of trends, but to say there isn’t competition in the market is nuts.
No one questions that Apple obtained its iOS platform monopoly power other than by creating “insanely great” products.
Actually, they do. They question how a global market share in the high teens can be considered a “monopoly” and whether or not “Glenn B. Manishin” is a real person typing this or a steam-powered automaton being operated by a hundred tiny and confused spider monkeys who are continually flipping random switches in the hopes a treat will be released.
Manishin likens Apple’s inclusion of Apple Music in iOS to how Microsoft tied Internet Explorer into Windows which is exactly the same if you assume that 95 percent market share and 17 percent are practically the same thing.
What could possibly explain this level of cluelessness?
Manishin is a Washington, DC antitrust attorney who served as counsel for competitors in both the US v. AT&T and US v. Microsoft monopolization cases.
Oh, so, Manishin is someone who might get a lot of business and/or press if Apple were sued for antitrust violations.
Well, now it all makes sense.