Re: Apple inflated the cost of its products through anticompetitive conduct

On 2024-03-29 01:51:37 +0000, Oscar Mayer said:

On Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:46:30 -0400, Alan Browne wrote:

 There are things that Apple develop for Apple product owners (the people who pay for the devices) in order to make the product a standout in the marketplace.
 Why should these standout features be made available to anyone for their profit when it is Apple's customers who paid Apple for these standout features.
 These companies want to ride it at Apple's expense.  Claims it is for customers is laughable.  It is these companies clamoring for access to what Apple paid to develop.
 If actual buyers of iPhones aren't happy, they can always run to Android phones - a lot more vendors, models, etc. than Apple could ever provide.

 Here is the 88-page PDF that the DOJ wrote for us to understand the case. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.544402/gov.uscourts.njd.544402.1.0_3.pdf   The Verge says the DOJ's case is that the American consumer is paying more
for the iPhone than they should be paying. And they get less functionality
on the iPhone than they get on Android phones.

If that was true, then Samsung and many other higher-end phone makers should be in court as well since they charge about the same price for their phones as Apple does.
Yes, you can but a cheaper Android smartphones from various makers, but they are lower-end models that use older / slower CPUs and GPUs, lower quality components, less RAM, etc. to achieve that lower price ... you get what you pay for.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/21/24107659/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust-documents-suing  "the Justice Department alleges that Apple is using a variety of unfair
tactics to entrench its market position and restrict innovation."

Apple is the one doing most ot he innovation! Most of the Android makers have even simply been copying the iPhone since it was released.   :-\
One of most obvious recent examples: Apple removes charger from box, Samsung makes fun of that decision, then a few months later Samsung removes charger from the box as well. (Of course, removing the charger isn't really an "innovation" so much as an idiotic idea.)

The DOJ's case is that the iPhone is less functionality at a higher cost.
We don't yet know what Apple has said about those two key allegations.
 Certainly the iPhone has less functionality than Android phones,

Complete bollocks.

but even with the limitations of the iPhone, many people seem to like the iPhone so in a way it's like they bought a stripped-down Harbor Freight tool at an expensive price but that alone isn't Apple's fault that happened.
 Apple's job is to charge as much money as they can for that HF tool.
Just like it's Harbor Freight's job to charge as much as they can for it.
 I feel Apple should be allowed to charge whatever they want to charge.
If people are willing to pay it, that's up to those people to decide.
 Most people who own an iPhone don't even know what Android phones can do.

Android phones can do exactly the same as what Apple phones can do.

Just like most people who buy HF tools never owned a high quality tool.
 But it doesn't matter what you or I think is true. It will only matter what a judge thinks is true.

"The law is an ass".
But there is at least one US judge who has a braincell, so there may be others:
     Judge Tosses Out Cryptocurrency Apple Antitrust Lawsuit
     Filed by Venmo Customers
     (Thursday, March 28, 2024)
     <https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/28/judge-tosses-cryptocurrency-lawsuit/>