Re:Apple removes Fortnite from App Store after Epic attempts...
by dragonwriter on Thursday August 13, 2020 @04:02PM
(#24147935)
> But there are other Smartphone platforms with their own store, correct?
But are they competing or parallel markets? Does Apple changing pricing or terms on the App Store drive business to other app stores, as replacements, or do software vendors choose which app stores to distribute with based on whether each provides a benefit worth the price, but not whether it is a better deal than some other store?
I think that under market/pricing power tests, Apple’s software distribution business in the App Store is not that unlikely to be a monopoly.
Now, establishing consumer harms from the way the leverage that monopoly to extract rents and dictate terms to software vendors might be less straightforward than it would be for a B2C monopoly, and in the US, at least, consumer harm is the key adverse impact from monopoly abuse that justifies legal consequences.
But are they competing or parallel markets? Does Apple changing pricing or terms on the App Store drive business to other app stores, as replacements, or do software vendors choose which app stores to distribute with based on whether each provides a benefit worth the price, but not whether it is a better deal than some other store?
I think that under market/pricing power tests, Apple’s software distribution business in the App Store is not that unlikely to be a monopoly.
Now, establishing consumer harms from the way the leverage that monopoly to extract rents and dictate terms to software vendors might be less straightforward than it would be for a B2C monopoly, and in the US, at least, consumer harm is the key adverse impact from monopoly abuse that justifies legal consequences.