Speaking at the Atlantic Festival recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed the antitrust issues that the tech giant is facing amongst a number of other topics.
MacRumors reports that while discussing the topic of antitrust at the Atlantic Festival, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that “big companies deserve scrutiny” which is “fair but important” for the American economy. Cook stated that he has “no issue” with Apple being investigated and hopes that the public will eventually hear Apple’s story and agree that the company is not a monopoly.
Cook stated at the festival:
I think that big companies deserve scrutiny. And I think that’s not only fair but important for the system that we have in America. And so I have no issue at all in Apple being put underneath the microscope and people looking and probing. My hope is that as people heard our story and as they continue to hear our story that it will become as apparent to them as it is to us that we have no monopoly. There is no monopoly here.
We’re in very, very competitive markets like smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets and personal computers. These things are fiercely competitive. They’re basically street fights for market share. Our core strategy as a company to make the best not the most… that basic strategy will never produce a monopoly. It’s very rare, almost impossible for the best to become the most as well. Somebody will choose a commodity product and there’s enough people that will buy the commodity product that it will have more share. And that’s true in all of the different fields we’re in.
I’m hoping people heard that and heard how we conduct ourselves because this is very important to us. We always do what we believe is right and conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity and professionalism. I hope that that came across and that we can unpeel from this investigation
It is not just the U.S. government that believes that Apple may be a monopoly. Epic Games, the developer behind the popular game Fortnite, has accused Apple of monopolistic practices in its iOS App Store.
Apple has responded to Epic Games’ recent demand that Apple restore the popular video game Fortnite to the Apple App Store in new legal filings. Apple has claimed that Epic’s problems are “entirely self-inflicted” and that Fortnite can return to the App Store at any time if Epic simply has to remove the custom in-app payment system that resulted in the app being removed in the first place.
In a 37-page opposition brief, Apple stated: “Epic started a fire, and poured gasoline on it, and now asks this Court for emergency assistance in putting it out. Even though Epic can do so itself in an instant by simply adhering to the contractual terms that have profitably governed its relationship with Apple for years.”
Apple further added: “Epic could have avoided any further harm involving both Fortnite and Unreal Engine — with a simple keystroke.” Apple claims that by refusing to do so, Epic is “holding its own customer’s hostage to gain leverage in a business dispute.”
A full court hearing to decide whether or not Apple should be forced to return Fortnite to the App Store is set for September 28. Apple contends throughout the latest court filing that it provides a valuable service by maintaining the App Store and that by circumventing the App Store’s rules, Epic has broken its contract with Apple.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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