Re:Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce
by digitaltrees on Sunday January 17, 2021 @02:41PM
(#25814138)
The problem with dumping is that in the long term it will put competitors out of business, facilitating a monopoly for the surviving company which can then charge permanently higher prices and stifle any competition before it can get off the ground. So while there may be short term benefits the long term consequences are awful for consumers and reduce innovation.
Dumping is tricky. I am actually sympathetic to the argument that says let them dump away. If China is subsidising cheap solar panels and manipulating their currency to make them even cheaper again, fine. Let's gorge ourselves on cheap solar panels. That's fine in theory, but the reality is more complex. What about long term investment in technology development? Control of strategic technologies? These apply to tech services too. I use Google Doc heavily, but I do worry that they are pricing out potentially innovative competition.