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**omaculer** · 05-04-2012, 02:25 AM

It's unlikely Apple was engaging in price-fixing, and it's not like Amazon doesn't engage in their own anti-competitive practices.

Uhhh, I would contend that it's very likely that Apple colluded with 5 major publishers to raise eBook prices. You don't even need insider info to put the pieces together.

Apple wanted to enter this market and it wanted to do so in a huge way. They needed to secure content and they needed to drive consumers to it. The company used its scale to provide a viable alternative market to publishers and negotiated higher prices with them that they could then throw in Amazon's face. See here, Apple will pay us 33% more so either you do the same or we're done doing business. Amazon's choice was to be frozen out of the market or pay more, and for a time Amazon was indeed frozen out. Apple cornered the market through agreements with publishers. This damaged Amazon's business and gave Apple a toehold to exploit. When Amazon ended up capitulating, they were then on par with Apple in terms of pricing and Apple had its position in the market. Mission accomplished.

Apple made agreements with publishers to artificially maintain specific, beneficial market conditions that increased prices across the board with the combined intention to either shut out a competitor or force them to similarly raise prices. That's classic price fixing.

True competitive entrance to a market should result in lower prices for consumers, not higher prices. The fact that Amazon's prior monopoly resulted in lower prices points to some very unsavory business practices on Apple's part. Apple didn't do consumers any favors by electing to "compete" in the eBook market and their breaking of Amazon's monopoly has had curiously the opposite effect that it should have.

Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster threw in the towel almost immediately and settled (Without the admission of wrondoing, wink, nudge.) with the DoJ.

05-04-2012, 02:25 AM	#14
omaculer Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 429 Senior Member	It's unlikely Apple was engaging in price-fixing, and it's not like Amazon doesn't engage in their own anti-competitive practices. Uhhh, I would contend that it's very likely that Apple colluded with 5 major publishers to raise eBook prices. You don't even need insider info to put the pieces together. Apple wanted to enter this market and it wanted to do so in a huge way. They needed to secure content and they needed to drive consumers to it. The company used its scale to provide a viable alternative market to publishers and negotiated higher prices with them that they could then throw in Amazon's face. See here, Apple will pay us 33% more so either you do the same or we're done doing business. Amazon's choice was to be frozen out of the market or pay more, and for a time Amazon was indeed frozen out. Apple cornered the market through agreements with publishers. This damaged Amazon's business and gave Apple a toehold to exploit. When Amazon ended up capitulating, they were then on par with Apple in terms of pricing and Apple had its position in the market. Mission accomplished. Apple made agreements with publishers to artificially maintain specific, beneficial market conditions that increased prices across the board with the combined intention to either shut out a competitor or force them to similarly raise prices. That's classic price fixing. True competitive entrance to a market should result in lower prices for consumers, not higher prices. The fact that Amazon's prior monopoly resulted in lower prices points to some very unsavory business practices on Apple's part. Apple didn't do consumers any favors by electing to "compete" in the eBook market and their breaking of Amazon's monopoly has had curiously the opposite effect that it should have. Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster threw in the towel almost immediately and settled (Without the admission of wrondoing, wink, nudge.) with the DoJ.
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