What is Monopoly? Apple or Google or Microsoft?

Many people don't understand what monopoly means.

• Monopoly is not saturation of a market.
• Monopoly is preventing others from entering market.

When a company prevents others from entering the market by tricks, it's EVIL! It's a usually illegal, because it prevents competition, and as a consequence, we see high price, and no innovation, bad quality product or service. The company don't care, because they are the only game in town, and they prevent others from entering the market.

When a company saturates a particular market, such as Microsoft's OS for PC, Google for web search, Apple in mobile phone, that's called success. Because, any joe can come in and sell their stuff, and when the public decided joe's better, the so-called monopoly topples.

Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit pointed out that the key to monopoly is not market share — even when it is 100 percent — but the ability to keep others out. A company which cannot keep competitors out is not a monopoly, no matter what percentage of the market it may have at a given moment.

Above quote is from Basic Economics, First Edition, by Thomas Sowell. Buy at amazon Chapter 2: Big business and Government: Anti-Trust Laws, p.102

Run and buy the book now. Save humanity! [see Reading Notes on Basic Economics]