Wasn't this exact kind of behavior the reason Microsoft faced company break-up at some point?
When is Apple going to be investigated by the US government for anti-competitive behavior?
Or maybe this rule only applies to monopolies?
When is Apple going to be investigated by the US government for anti-competitive behavior?
Or maybe this rule only applies to monopolies?
Their control of the App Store is perhaps more-problematic (Microsoft couldn't actually stop competitors from using those undocumented APIs, once discovered). But at the same time, Apple doesn't dominate the mobile market like what Microsoft had on the desktop. (Similarly --obligatory bad-car-analogy-- auto companies exercise far more control over their dealership networks than Microsoft ever did over its resellers. But the FTC/EU took issue with Microsoft because of its monopoly status.)
Also, there's always the inconsistent treatment of game consoles to consider. The FTC has never investigated a dominant console supplier for not allowing any app from any developer onto their console. And Apple's App Store is wide open when viewed through the lens of that market.
And perhaps they wanted to allow Kindle etc on the store without raising the controversy of why they don't block them since they duplicate built-in functionality.