Saying that Apple has monopoly control over app sales for iOS is like saying the Four Seasons has a monopoly on selling food to Four Seasons patrons. Not only is this not a change of course in antitrust enforcement, it extends the focus on retail prices to the point of clinical insanity.
If you doubt that, consider what would happen if Apple were ordered to allow sideloaded apps on the grounds that they take a cut of App Store sales. Almost certainly, they would simply stop taking their cut and continue to forbid sideloading (App Store fees are a minor side hustle for Apple). Nothing would change in terms of freedom to tinker etc., and – assuming most developers would pocket the extra 30% – nothing would change in terms of app prices either. Meanwhile, you’d have the aforementioned batshit Supreme Court precedent affecting every business in America that sells anything to anyone.
The only noticeable change I can think of is that suddenly Amazon would stop refusing to sell content directly through iOS apps, increasing their dominance. That would be an intriguing echo of the last bizarre antitrust case against Apple. You know, where they were found guilty of ebook price-fixing, because they failed to fix the price of ebooks, which threatened to interfere with Amazon’s program of abusing its monopoly power to force publishers to sell ebooks at unsustainably low prices.
I have no idea what the story might be behind the scenes, but it seems fishy as fuck, and most definitely not anything to cheer for regardless of one’s strong feelings about Apple.
