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Comment by chatmasta | Hacker News Reader

> According to Epic, Apple reportedly told the company that it’s “a threat to their ecosystem.”

Note they're not saying Epic is a security threat or has a product that endangers Apple customers. Instead, they're calling Epic, the company itself, a threat to Apple's ecosystem.

This quote makes sense, if you replace "ecosystem" with "monopoly."

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To be more specific, it's likely that Epic is a threat to Apple's business/technical ability to steer/shape/profit from the iOS ecosystem.

I think it is <insert-expletive> to make Epic out to be the villain.

At the same time:

> This quote makes sense, if you replace "ecosystem" with "monopoly."

In the US, iPhone has a 57.93% market share. As of 2023, Android has a 70.29% global market share.

They have a monopoloy on distribution channels of iOS Apps. There is no way, other than through the App Store, for a developer to sell software to the owner of an Apple device such that the owner can execute that software on their own device.

So create another phone platform and compete.

What about the users who purchased an iPhone with the expectation that they would be able to execute software from Epic on their phone?

They were wrong in their supposition. It's part of free market process, asymmetric information.

The only regulation we need here is a right-to-repair law, that requires hardware manufacturers to provide users root access to any firmware or software flashed onto the device.

Or maybe you think that if Apple went out of business, or simply decided to shut down the App Store tomorrow, then all the users with bricked devices should have no legal recourse.

They are free to return their phone and buy one that meets their needs.

I hope you will understand that this is not a valid argument when dealing with monopolies.

It's a subjective monopoly. In fact everything is a subjective monopoly. And nothing is.

Some people just like regulating everything.

Actually, replace "ecosystem" with "revenues".

Monopolies are not a bad thing, except when they are enforced with violence=government.

Fortunately no one forces you to use Apple's products.

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