The thing that’s missed is that vertical Integratron is far more efficient for core products than relying on third parties.

Apple won out over Microsoft in consumer electronics because they were able to make decisions up and down the stack as a unit whereas Microsoft had to deal with layers of device makers and consortia.

All the talk of breakups and “big is bad” ignores the fact that vertical works better.

I don’t think it has to be this way. I think it’s entirely possible that a network of companies can outperform a monolith with the right kind of coordination.

This would be a new, evolutionary strategy, and would be good for everyone.

It won’t however, emerge if we roll the clock back to the late 90’s by force.