Justice Department sues Apple for illegal monopoly

[Doom]

Holy moly, I never thought this would happen. I also don't think it is justified, that the iPhone does not have a monopoly, illegal or otherwise, in the smartphone space. Android is a real competitor, and I personally people who go back and forth between iPhone and Android based on the price. If Apple has an advantage it is only because carriers are offering ridiculously good prices. I got the iPhone 14 because it was the cheapest phone that gave me the specs I wanted. I recently upgraded to the iPhone 15 Plus because the Plus was actually $10 per month cheaper than the standard model, which makes no sense, but I went with it.

The only thing I can think of is that THIS is the entire case against Apple, they are illegally colluding with carriers to make sure the iPhone is always the cheapest so that consumers who are making their decisions based largely on price have no choice but the iPhone. If that is the argument the government is using I guess it is a good one, that is an anticompetitive practice, exactly the kind of thing previously pioneered by IBM and Microsoft before them.

[Kage_ar]

I define "good price" as the purchase price of the phone. What sort of mortgage carriers give on various phones is different than price. I just checked online, a new iPhone @128 on the Apple website v a new Pixel Pro @ 128 at Best Buy (Best Buy website does not offer an outright purchase of iPhone), the Android is about $150 less.

[Doom]

I define "good price" as the purchase price of the phone. What sort of mortgage carriers give on various phones is different than price. I just checked online, a new iPhone @128 on the Apple website v a new Pixel Pro @ 128 at Best Buy (Best Buy website does not offer an outright purchase of iPhone), the Android is about $150 less.

The Pixel is also not offered on a monthly financing plan, you have to pay full price immediately, meaning the market for it is marginal.

[Kage_ar]

Um, yeah it is

https://www.att.com/buy/phones/google-p ... lsrc=aw.ds

[Doom]

Nope, it turns out the lawsuit is about something else entirely, namely the fact that it is locked down with all purchases having to go through Apple which takes a 30% cut and refuses to allow other companies to offer a competing app store. Who cares? Google is no different, even though they used to be.