Thread by @PatrickMcGee_

Tim Cook's testimony reads like the answer to a question nobody was asking. A quick thread...

@tim_cook @Apple

He noted the smartphone market is “fiercely competitive”, as users can choose from a host of other handset makers including Samsung and Huawei, who each had a higher global market share in 2019 according to Canalys.

These points are valid, but arguably beside the point... 1/?

The antitrust case against Apple has little to do with its market share vs the giants and is more about its role as gatekeeper to the App Store, where it also a rival to much smaller developers who complain that Apple has built an unlevel playing field. 2/?

Mr Cook addressed some of those concerns, but sidestepped others. For instance Cook said developers set their own prices and “never pay for ‘shelf space.'”... 3/?

Critics say Apple has an unfair advantage in that Apple can preload phones with its own apps, like Podcasts and Apple Music. Sure, 'self space’ is free, but how searches are ranked isn’t clear and the first results are often Apple’s own apps or paid-for advertisements. 4/?

Cook said the guidelines for the App Store “are transparent and applied equally to developers of all sizes.” However, developers complain *Apple itself* isn’t subject to the same rules. For instance, its apps cannot be publicly reviewed — as are all third party apps. 5/?

The Apple chief said that since the App Store debuted in 2008, “we have never raised the commission or added a single fee.” Critics would point out, however, that fees have not been reduced either, which might suggest a lack of competition. 6/?

Cook touted the Store as an “economic miracle” with more than $500bn in annual commerce worldwide. However the great size of the App Store — if it were a country, it would be larger than Austria by GDP — is a reason why some app developers believe it must be regulated. La fin.