Depends how you define the market. The relevant definition here is users of Apple devices.
The relevant market isn’t the specific Apple device users, but all users and all their competing devices. This is typically how US antitrust law works as it is based on consumer harm. And that’s broad, not the specific consumers who choose to use a particular tool or be in a particular system.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253...
> The District Court determined that Microsoft had maintained a monopoly in the market for Intel compatible PC operating systems in violation
Change "Intel compatible" to "A series compatible" and it's Apple. Change it to "ARM compatible" and it's still Apple given they have 60% market share in the USA. Only countries enforce anti-trust, there is no world government to look at market share it the world.
So people are so enamored with apple devices that they cannot stop using them, but don't want to pay the rent the company charges them... just go play somewhere else. Or create your own park. That's what Hawuei did, that's what Android did.
Consumer are locked into ecosystems so you cannot just say "they can switch to a competing device". Can they move all apps and content from the old device to the new device at no cost? Do they need significant time to setup.
Walmart should be forced to sell competitors products because they control the whole market for Walmart customers.
Meanwhile, she's moved twice in my lifetime. I actually suspect most people move more often than they switch operating systems, and do so more times in their life, too.
I hate this rhetoric that old people are stupid and are intrinsically incapable of understanding modern technology.
Computers and cell phones didn't pop into existence overnight. The first home computers entered the market in the late 70's and became commonplace in the 80's. If your grandma is in her 80's now, she was in her 40's back then.
None of us had to learn these things overnight and tech was much simpler back then. All she had to do was keep up with what was happening in society. If anything, all this is more complicated for kids as they weren't eased into it like us older folks were.
Same goes for cellphones. They got common in the 90's and it took decades for them to get to the point that they are basically supercomputers you can put in your pocket.
This is nothing like asking your grandma to start using a new language she doesn't understand. This is more like your grandma stubbornly refusing to learn the meaning of new words introduced into the English language since the 80s. This is about being wilfully disconnected from society. This is not about an inability to learn but an unwillingness.
This is not an age thing, to get to the point where switching cellphone OSes is an impossible task you had to have checked out decades ago. It has nothing to do with age and everything with apathy and laziness.
Further, when you get to your 40s and some "new tech" comes out (like these VR headsets), you have to take a gamble. Is this yet another fad, like the last time ... or is this going to stick around. You have far less time than some teenager to go figure out how things work, on top of that.
Having switched from Apple to Microsoft Phone to Android and back to Apple ... I disagree. In that time, I've moved states and even countries. Moving is far less demanding than switching operating systems. Moving is pretty simple: you pack, move, then unpack; and you even get to keep all your stuff! Switching operating systems requires researching for similar apps, purchasing them again, potentially copying music/photo libraries using sketchy tools, hunting down tutorials for how to do things you don't know how to do, etc.
More generally, moving means leaving friends, forcing kids to change schools, and if moving far, learning new laws and customs. Not to mention that packing and moving all that stuff takes days and/or costs thousands of moneys. Extracting files from Google Drive and iCloud is a pain, but is it _that_ bad?
Moving the goalpost are we? Sure, if you keep moving it far enough, long enough, then yeah, you'll find a set of conditions where this is no longer true (such as having a family, friends, changing schools, etc).
> Extracting files from Google Drive and iCloud is a pain, but is it _that_ bad?
I take it you haven't done it. Put your money where your mouth is and just switch. It's that easy, right?
I've used... six mobile operating systems in the last ten years. Some learnings:
1. There are cross-platform alternatives for file storage. Consider using them for important things. 2. For work things and organized volunteerism you'll use the tools of the company/organization anyway. 3. Backups help when migrating. You need backups anyway, so make use of them. 4. Only migrate things you actually care about. Screenshots from last year or that draft email to the electrician who installed your fridge? Let them burn
We already know the players in the market will conspire to increase prices artificially if given the chance (United States v. Apple Inc., 952 F. Supp. 2d 638 (S.D.N.Y. 2013)). So, no, I don't believe these are actually one market because not even the players think it is one marketplace. They argue this exact illusion to keep anti-trust from applying to them, but behave as if it isn't a single market.
All we need is for lawmakers to change what the definition of a market is, in order to deal with this loophole.
In fact regulators do not allow this to happen. For example, I know the UK competition regulators would not allow the same company to buy more than a quarter (IIRC) of the pubs in an area. Source: I heard the CEO of what was the biggest pub company in the UK at the time say it.