Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Sorry. I'm not seeing the antitrust issue. Which of the App stores (Google, Apple, Amazon) is the one with the stranglehold on business activity? "All three" is not one of the choices.
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The only realistic way to sell software to Apple iPhone users is through the App Store. Android is slightly more open but also throws up scary warnings before you try to install software from outside the play store. Amazon is a rounding error and only relevant in the niche market of Android tablets on the low end.
It's a duopoly. If you want to sell any kind of software, provide any kind of service or device that requires an app for smartphone users in the US and basically every country except China you have to get your app in the App Store and the Play Store and that means playing by their sometimes ridiculous rules and forking over 30% of your revenue with no real alternative. Even if you ignore Apple in many countries like the US that's automatically throwing away 50% or more of your potential customer base. They have far too much control over far too important devices these days.
In the case of BN, Kobo, Amazon, etc. both Google and Apple sell ebooks and let you buy straight through their apps on their platforms because they don't have to pay a 30% cut of the sale price. This obviously isn't fair and forces all 3rd party ebook apps to have the clunky workaround of having you buy on a web page.