FTC chief open to tech company breakups over antitrust concerns

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 30
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member

    Apple has had no "mergers" to speak of. The ones that have happened are trivial relative to its size.

    This is some silly bureaucrat. running around with a random hammer looking for a nail. It'll be DOA.
    Apple has had no "mergers" to speak of. The ones that have happened are trivial relative to its size.

    This is some silly bureaucrat. running around with a random hammer looking for a nail. It'll be DOA.
    Well we could argue a bit about the competitive impact Apples buy ups have had but that isn’t really a significant issue.  

    The problem is you have an idiot like E. Warren driving this non sense.   The non sense being extremely aggressive break ups of these companies far beyond what is needed.  Sadly that same idiot is currently a front runner to run for president for the Democrats.  That is absolutely scary if you have any concept at all as to what is involved in running a business.  

    Im not sure where her gate of tech companies comes from but there has to be a better middle ground to the problem than an extremist approach.  
    cornchip
  • Reply 22 of 30
    JWSC said:

    For several decades after the breakup we saw tremendous advances in cellular communications as the baby bells competed with each other. 

    The "tremendous" advances were from carriers? Really? Can you cite some examples? Or were they from telecom equipment companies (e.g., Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson)?

    Also, how do you explain the better coverage, the higher quality, far more data, and the lower telecom prices all over Europe and in countries like Japan and S Korea, where few -- if any -- state-owned telecom champions were broken up?
  • Reply 23 of 30
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 3,103member
    JWSC said:

    For several decades after the breakup we saw tremendous advances in cellular communications as the baby bells competed with each other. 

    The "tremendous" advances were from carriers? Really? Can you cite some examples? Or were they from telecom equipment companies (e.g., Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson)?

    Also, how do you explain the better coverage, the higher quality, far more data, and the lower telecom prices all over Europe and in countries like Japan and S Korea, where few -- if any -- state-owned telecom champions were broken up?
    As I remember from the time, the biggest issue was that Ma Bell was resisting change. New technologies were in the pipeline, but there was a huge clog at the end. Third party phone manufacturers could not sell their products because Ma Bell would not let you plug it in. That sort of thing. Breaking ip AT&T didn't add any new technologies, competition forced the baby bells to accept new technologies.
    cornchip
  • Reply 24 of 30
    DAalseth said:
    JWSC said:

    For several decades after the breakup we saw tremendous advances in cellular communications as the baby bells competed with each other. 

    The "tremendous" advances were from carriers? Really? Can you cite some examples? Or were they from telecom equipment companies (e.g., Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson)?

    Also, how do you explain the better coverage, the higher quality, far more data, and the lower telecom prices all over Europe and in countries like Japan and S Korea, where few -- if any -- state-owned telecom champions were broken up?
    As I remember from the time, the biggest issue was that Ma Bell was resisting change. New technologies were in the pipeline, but there was a huge clog at the end. Third party phone manufacturers could not sell their products because Ma Bell would not let you plug it in. That sort of thing. Breaking ip AT&T didn't add any new technologies, competition forced the baby bells to accept new technologies.
    Actually, some people attribute the messy, walled-off standards we ended up with -- e.g., CDMA v. TDMA, GSM v. non-GSM, etc -- to the breakup.

    But even if I grant you that competition had a positive impact on adoption of new technologies, I am not sure that addresses the second part of my post.
  • Reply 25 of 30
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,954member
    wizard69 said:

     I have a big fear this new found interest in these so called monopolies could snow ball into a huge fiasco.  

    No! USA Government would never allow that to occur even in your wildest nightmares!


    /S
    FileMakerFeller
  • Reply 26 of 30
    wizard69 said:
    As long as we have free trade the ability to compete on a world wide scale depends upon large corporations with deep pockets.  
    Well, President Trump is trying his hardest to avert this catastrophe by eliminating free trade.
  • Reply 27 of 30
    Ben Thompson of https://stratechery.com has been advocating the idea of restricting acquisitions more rigorously as a way of ensuring continuing competition. Sounds like Mr Simon subscribes to the same school of thought.
  • Reply 28 of 30
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,678member
    Ben Thompson of https://stratechery.com has been advocating the idea of restricting acquisitions more rigorously as a way of ensuring continuing competition. Sounds like Mr Simon subscribes to the same school of thought.
    He has a good take on it IMHO. Seems like every startup with a good idea and inventive processes gets bought up by Apple or Google or Facebook before they ever get a chance to prove themselves. Some of those companies might well have become competitive and aggressively inventive entities in their own right if not for being snatched up early on and merged with the hives. 
    edited August 2019 muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 29 of 30
    kestralkestral Posts: 311member
    Apple fanboys: Usually Liberal

    Apple fanboys when AAPL is involved: Full Libertarian
  • Reply 30 of 30
    KiwiPhreddKiwiPhredd Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    "Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons is open to the idea of breaking apart giant tech firms like Apple by undoing mergers, if it is determined large entities like Facebook are harming competition across the tech industry as a whole by being too dominant. " Breaking down this sentence - If entities like Facebook (which Apple is not one of) are harming competition then break up Apple. If that truly is what Simons is thinking and not just a misrepresentation through sloppy journalism, that really is a classic example of the woolly thinking of this administration...
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