Apple’s growing antitrust problem

“Apple’s expansion into services could test the hardware company in several ways — including the risk of making the company an even bigger antitrust target — because the company already tightly controls its ecosystems, especially the iPhone and iPad,” Sara Fischer and Ina Fried write for Axios.
“Companies have long-alleged that Apple and Google exploit their footing as owners of both the world’s largest smartphone operating systems (iOS and Android) and some of the world’s most popular apps (like Apple Music and Google Maps),” Fischer and Fried write. “Dutch antitrust officials said Thursday that they would investigate whether Apple favors its own apps over those of its rivals.”
“It’s never been clear whether having a monopoly over a particular platform presents an antitrust problem if the platform itself faces sufficient competition,” Fischer and Fried write. “In this case, Apple dictates the terms and rules for the iPhone, but the iPhone itself has competition. Think Xbox or PlayStation as other examples of this. For the most part, regulators have been hesitant to step in.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If customers don’t like Apple’s App Store, they are not forced to continue shopping there, they can choose another smartphone brand.
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