undefined | Better HN

0 pointsesmi6y ago0 comments

> So Apple has a dominant position in iOS app distribution

Is iOS app distribution a thing that can be dominated though, legally? In your example I get how stores and shoes are both things that can be dominated but what category of thing does iOS app distribution fall into? Is it still in the same category if one deletes iOS and just calls it in "app store"? Would Apple still dominate apps?

It's all confusing to me. I'm asking sincerely because I honestly don't know.

0 comments

AnthonyMouse6y ago

This is getting into market definition, which is kind of complicated and subjective, but one of the key factors is substitution.

So for example, is "Clorox bleach" its own market, separate from just "bleach"? Well, no. Clorox bleach is chemically identical to any other bleach. You could switch one for the other and not even be able to tell the difference.

On the other hand, is "broadband internet service in Pittsburgh" a different market than just "broadband internet service"? It kind of is. There may be a dozen different ISPs in varying cities across the country, but the prerequisite to using one that doesn't offer service in your city is to sell your house and move somewhere else. That doesn't make it a particularly viable substitute.

So then is "iOS app store" a different market than just "app store"? Well, what do you have to do to substitute one for the other? Is it reasonable to have to exchange your $600 phone, or buy a second $600 phone, in order to buy a $1 app from a different store?

threeseed6y ago

This is inaccurate though.

You would still have to buy a new $600 phone to use that $1 app irrespective of whether Apple had multiple stores or not. iOS is a platform and apps can only work on that platform.

AnthonyMouse6y ago

> You would still have to buy a new $600 phone to use that $1 app irrespective of whether Apple had multiple stores or not.

You need a phone to use an app in the same way that you need a piece of real estate to get internet service. That doesn't mean Cox in Omaha is a competitor to Comcast in Pittsburgh, because people aren't reasonably going to make a choice with hundreds of times greater implications just in order to do that.

> iOS is a platform and apps can only work on that platform.

You're only providing reasons that it is a separate market from apps on other platforms.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsesmi6y ago0 comments

> So Apple has a dominant position in iOS app distribution

It's all confusing to me. I'm asking sincerely because I honestly don't know.

0 comments

AnthonyMouse6y ago

This is getting into market definition, which is kind of complicated and subjective, but one of the key factors is substitution.

threeseed6y ago

This is inaccurate though.

You would still have to buy a new $600 phone to use that $1 app irrespective of whether Apple had multiple stores or not. iOS is a platform and apps can only work on that platform.

AnthonyMouse6y ago

> You would still have to buy a new $600 phone to use that $1 app irrespective of whether Apple had multiple stores or not.

> iOS is a platform and apps can only work on that platform.

You're only providing reasons that it is a separate market from apps on other platforms.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse