Apple, Google and Facebook used market dominance to cripple competition says smaller firms
What you need to know
- A group of small tech firms has told Congress that Apple, Google, and Amazon used market dominance to crush them.
- Sonos, Tile, Basecamp, and PopSockets all appeared before a House antitrust committee on Friday, January 17.
- They all told stories of how larger tech companies used their market dominance to cripple competition.
Sonos, Tile, Basecamp, and PopSockets have all testified to a House antitrust committee, stating that big tech firms like Amazon, Apple and Google used their market dominance and bullying business tactics to crush the competition.
As reported by Business Insider:
Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson (who famously blasted Apple Card's "sexist" credit limits last year) stated:
The report claims that companies testified to Apple's strict App Store rules that stifle innovation and drain resources, whilst Apple develops and boosts its own alternative products:
It was also stated by Hansson that Apple's 30% App Store tax was "outrageous." Tile further testified to ways Apple exploited the App Store in its favor, such as by embedding the Find My app in iOS, and by burying Tile's setting in iOS 13. (An Apple statement to Business Insider claimed this was being rectified)
Sonos accused Google of having a marketing advantage "like nothing we've ever seen before" - CEO Patrick Spence alleged that Google pressured Sonos to allow its speakers to only sync with Google Assistant, rather than Amazon's Alexa.
Of Google's power over searching and its market dominance, PopSocket CEO David Barnett said:
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Basecamp also raised concerns that Google allowed competitors to buy ads that would run whenever someone searched for its trademarked name, claiming that Basecamp had to pay $70,000 a year in ads to counteract the problem.
According to Reuters, PopSockets chief exec also testified against Amazon:
Both reports can be read in full, but if there's a foundation to the accusations being made by these smaller tech firms, they will serve as a damning report to congress about the way larger tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google conduct themselves
Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9