From his sound-bites in the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority press release:
Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA said:
“Apple and Google have developed a vice-like grip over how we use mobile phones and we’re concerned that it’s causing millions of people across the UK to lose out.”
“Most people know that Apple and Google are the main players when it comes to choosing a phone. But it can be easy to forget that they set all the rules too – from determining which apps are available on their app stores, to making it difficult for us to switch to alternative browsers on our phones. This control can limit innovation and choice, and lead to higher prices – none of which is good news for users.”
“Any intervention must tackle the firms’ substantial market power across the key areas of operating systems, app stores and browsers. We think that the best way to do this is through the Digital Markets Unit when it receives powers from government.”
My take: Mr. Coscelli will have to pry the iPhone from my vice-like death grip before he gets powers over my OS, app store and browser.
“Apple and Google have developed a vice-like grip over how we use mobile phones and we’re concerned that it’s causing millions of people across the UK to lose out.”
Apple and Google have created (through, I might add, strong competition) an amazing and abundant marketplace marriage of hardware & software propagated by millions of utilitarian apps of every useful resource imaginable that the entire world has directly benefited from with most entry-level marketplace prices based at free.
Given that —
“How we use mobile phones…” and “…lose out…”
Hmmm…sounds more like a personal problem to me, not one of governance.
What’s next? An accusation that they bought off Microsoft’s smartphone initiative in order to cement their “duopoly”?
/s
Unfortunately it’s just rehashed rubbish given this has had its day in court and with competition authorities all over the world already.
I’d prefer them to use their time to look into price gouging U.K. and overseas customers, while paying very little tax here thanks to using tax havens like Ireland. Apples enormous profits are considerably assisted by the prices it charges for sales outside of the US and beneficial tax arrangements, which I have very mixed feelings about as a U.K. resident.
Same phone is $1,100 or so, after being air freighted and trucked to New Hampshire, include a significant shipping delay for that model right now. It can be as little as a $25/month with some plans. Those plans are not nearly as available to commoners in Kerala. Phone bills are generally lower in India, but more people use each tower & available bandwidth too.
Some carriers sell the phone cheaper but land someone willing to commit to paying a monthly bill. In many regions, 50% or more of poor regions, smartphone users go with pay per use service. They buy the cheapest phone you’ve never heard of or else used iPhones or Samsungs. “For a small amount more, madam, you can show your friends your iPhone X.”
From The Globe and Mail:
“Wall Street gained on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March as it exits from policies enacted at the start of the health crisis.”
So the answer to your question is – yes.
Bottom line: Short term traders are being routed by long term investors fleeing to safety.
With few AAPL shares available for purchasing, demand is exceeding supply, and that’s exploding price.
Hope your seat belts were on….
“…any fund manager…must sell shares from time to time to make pension payments to retirees…”
Can’t disagree. In fact, I guess I’m my own fund manager, from that POV….
But if we’re suddenly faced with the prospect of rising interest rates, then we get something like today, which is a broad-based true flight to safety across the market. Day-to-day cash acquisition can suddenly look like a ripple compared to a tidal wave….
I know I sure as heck won’t be selling today. Ironically, my bride asked me last night if we should set a limit at $181 and I said I thought it would head towards $200/share this year. That’s looking more and more likely….
Okay, prove it.
“This control can limit innovation and choice, and lead to higher prices”
Okay, prove it.
“Any intervention must tackle the firms’ substantial market power across the key areas of operating systems, app stores and browsers.”
Before we talk about solutions, one must prove the problems.
One wonders if he’s been spending all of his time talking to Epic and Spotify about their complaints, and less time actually looking at the market and seeing if customers are actually harmed.
The assertion of “potential consumer harm” is just that, an -assertion-.
I also wonder what kind of computer he has in his office, and how much he pays to keep that system safe.
What happened after the introduction of the iPhone was competition proved which systems were more popular, adopted, and used. iOS and copycat Android eventually became de facto standards because they proved either technically superior or user selected superior. Windows, Symbian, Blackberry, etc. all proved to be inferior from a user’s standpoint or too niche like to survive.
Today, Android and iPhone users have vastly superior hardware at comparable prices (adjusting for inflation) and vastly superior software experiences and wide price ranges to suit budgets and needs. Users have competitive choices to select from in price, features, options, software settings, etc. If someone else wants to create a new phone OS, have at it. If someone wants to intro a new phone design, have at it. If you can make it better, the marketplace will decide. No one is forced to buy either or both operating systems or devices, or use their app stores.
Usually, courts will ask “Cui boni?” – Who benefits? – when examining motive. In this case, we need to figure out the opposite Latin phrase, -Who suffers?-, from the effect of government oversight.
2) Almost all the Apps I ‘need’ are free, or nearly. The only real money on the Apps stores is entertainment – streaming or in-app games – not essential. It is not too hard to get streaming content from the web without App Stores – legally. Games rely on extensive investments made by Apple on platform technology.
3) Andrea sees the potential (not actual) abuse by Apple and Google, while failing to see the actual abuse by cyber criminals of all sorts.
On software Google has a Vice like hold on its own operating system but not on the other manufacturers hardware. Apple tightly controls its own operating system and hardware. It competes in the overall market for cell phones but doesn’t offer IOS to others. Who is going to launch another software hardware combo that will gain enough market share to get mentioned as a significant player? They would have to come up with something pretty special. It would most likely be easier and more profitable to make another Android device that has features which excites than to also develop a different operating system. This complaint is that there should be a Tower of Babel situation in the market so let’s make one happen in the name of competition. Good luck with that.
Answer #1 – Android Foldable/Flip phones – combined after 2+ years, they’ll sell about 5, maybe 7M units this year, with new models coming from Oppo (but sold in China only for now), TCL, Motorola, Xiaomi, Huawei (not Android). I’m not counting the Microsoft Surface Duo as I believe it to be a drop in the bucket of Foldable Phone sales. This is still very much a small niche (with good revenue but having to pay off the R&D costs).
Answer #2 – an iOS foldable – of course, not another operating system as it will certainly be iOS based. But an Apple iOS foldable will be a departure from the current hardware/software iPhone combination. Maybe an Apple foldable will get a fork of iOS specifically optimized for it?
Answer #3 – Apple’s upcoming AR system used as a phone interface. This is the most likely evolution of phone use. I suspect Apple could well disrupt 10-15% of smartphone sales with this device and create yet another option for phone users (hardware wise). Still likely to use an ARK-iOS