Apple CEO Cook: Monopolies aren’t bad if they aren’t abused

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the existence of monopolies in business, saying that “a monopoly by itself isn’t bad if it’s not abused.”

Charlie Wood for Business Insider:

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the existence of monopolies in business, while also denying that Apple has a monopoly in any sector.

In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo on Wednesday, during which Cook discussed a range of topics including Apple’s treatment of competitors, he said: “A monopoly by itself isn’t bad if it’s not abused.”

“The question for those companies is, do they abuse it? And that is for regulators to decide, not for me to decide.”

Cook insisted Apple itself is not a monopoly – a line he has maintained for the duration of his tenure…

MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, Cook is right, as that’s the law. Monopoly abuse is what’s to be corrected, not the existence of a monopoly, as we’ve said more times than we can count over many, many years:

Achieving a monopoly is legal. It’s monopoly abuse that is illegal. — MacDailyNews, August 12, 2005

A monopoly… is legal. It’s monopoly abuse that’s illegal. — MacDailyNews, January 3, 2008

Monopolies are legal unless abused. — MacDailyNews, May 10, 2010

Monopolies are legal. Monopoly abuse is not. — MacDailyNews, July 20, 2017

Since Apple does not have a monopoly in any market in which they participate, there is no legal basis for action against Apple Inc.

In the case of Apple, there is no monopoly (which is legal by the way), much less monopoly abuse (which is explicitly impossible given the nonexistence of a monopoly). You cannot abuse a monopoly when you do not have a monopoly to begin with. — MacDailyNews, October 16, 2019