Can Apple and Wal-mart technically be known as monopolies? if not, why not?
>>1069016
or any other huge brand
>>1069016
I'm not sure why Google isn't, but your examples are fairly fucking awful. Apple barely dominates, if it even still does dominate, a single category of consumer electronics, and Walmart, in addition to being strangled by the internet, has plenty of competition.
Yeah... 10% market share doesn't cut it for a monopoly.
>>1069021
Even in a "competitive" industry a single corporation can have enough market power to maintain monopoly prices for their goods. Apple can get monopoly profits by differentiating its brand and spending vast sums on advertising.
example:
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/9359/economics/irritating-monopoly-power-apple/
>>1069031
So, is this like a weird opinion thread?
>>1069031
I actually read the article. Apple has a monopoly on the author's heart, and the author has a market maker share in semen futures. If the faggot doesn't love Apple's shiny dick in his ass, he can always buy a better/cheaper pc.
>>1069038
>If the faggot doesn't love Apple's shiny dick in his ass, he can always buy a better/cheaper pc.
The point is companies can and do successfully maintain monopoly prices by simply differentiating their brands, it's a successful strategy. Consumers aren't going to buy a cheaper product necessarily if its a different brand, so prices can stay abnormally high.
>>1069048
I was going to launch into an ad hominem tirade, but there wouldn't be much point, would there? You're just on some different level of awareness/understanding, and I'll never reach you.
no you moron
>b-but apple has a monopoly on apple(tm) products!
by that definition literally every single company has a monopoly on its specific brand-name product
great job fuckface
>>1069048
Apple doesn't have close to a monopoly, they're just dominating a certain demographic for consumer electronics. That demographic chooses to pay extra for the brand. A monopoly implies that people are forced to buy from one provider.
Probably a troll though so I wasted 45 sec writing that.
OP starts a thread about monopoly, but doesn't know what monopoly is.
>>1069016
Depends. Google is definitely a monopoly in the search industry business, but Google markets itself as being in the technology business, where it is not a monopoly. It's all about perspective, and companies use that to their advantage of course.
>>1069016
Apple: No. They have a monopoly over Apple products, but they have a number of competitors (Samsung, Nexus, LG, HTC, Onenote, Nokia)
Wal-mart: No. If they're in the retail-warehousing market, they're being encroached on by Amazon.
You're describing oligarchies, maybe.
