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Read the complaint against Microsoft from back in the day - https://www.justice.gov/atr/complaint-us-v-microsoft-corp

Consider how many of those items apply to Google's behavior and how many apply to Apple's.

That Apple is the only way to get the hardware or software for their products (compare to getting Google software licensed on Samsung) is a very important distinction.



I don't see why the Microsoft case is all that relevant; it's not like Microsoft is the archetypal definition of monopoly behavior in hardware/software, and only companies that do things the Microsoft way should be punished.

I personally don't think the distinction you point out should actually be important at all. The end result is an anti-competitive platform, and that's all that should matter.

If we go by the oft-used test of consumer harm, consumers get harmed in exactly the same way on both platforms, with higher prices (due to percentage fees that you can't opt out of) than if the market were more open.


At some point in time, the only way to get a phone hardware was Bell Telephone Company. That did constitute a monopoly:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System




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