Why is it always Apple that pops up as a household name in consumer price fixing. It was shocking they somehow did not lose their case against Epic

FTA: “Hagens Berman has seen Apple in court many times before. The firm has sued Apple over scratched iPad nano cases, e-book price-fixing, App Store developer rules, and iOS touchscreen patents”

⇒ to me it seems at least part of the reason is that they are huge and have a lot of money.

I also think Ars Technica’s article title is incomplete. Again, FTA:

“Coughenour dismissed one aspect of the plaintiff's lawsuit. […] a "per se" finding of antitrust violation could not be sustained”

So there were multiple claims (how many, I wouldn’t know) at least one of which was dismissed and at least one of which was sustained.

It is baffling, but on the other hand - why else would Apple be one of the richest companies? You don't get rich by treating other people well.

As can be seen in this thread, they have their reality distortion field which makes a segment of their audience see everything they do as somehow consumer friendly. So it isn't that surprising that Apple would try to get away with far more egregious stunts than other companies.

Apple convinced Amazon to remove >650 sellers of refurbished goods (now there are less than 10). In doing so, Amazon gets a 10% discount for selling new goods.

This eases pressure on Apple having to compete on cost with its older functioning devices.

Lol "eases pressure". You mean, removed all pressure. They sell their own refurb devices often at barely a discount more than $100.

Good. This case actually seems like it could stick, there’s demonstrable consumer harm if prices rose due to the agreement.

How many of these sellers were selling counterfeit Apple products, even occasionally?

Amazon has a huge problem with counterfeits, and of all the major brands on Amazon, I think Apple is the safest to buy because of this agreement.

Define counterfeit, as some lobbyists would define it by replacing a single resistor, capacitor or fuse, an independent repair shop turns a mac into a pc.

Besides, counterfeit products comingling has never bother amazon before, so why now?

It still doesn't bother Amazon, apple had to pay them to care

>eliminate all but the highest-price Apple products in Amazon's online store

This is illegal? What law is it then? Anti-Trust usually refers to monopolies rather than working with retail companies for the display case... Anyway, if it isnt, its just another way Apple shows its dominance as the best in Marketing.

Even if someone can't find the product they want, they have felt the effect of Veblen goods. "Wow Apple is so expensive, this surely will let people know I have a good job."

If you are a consumer buying a Veblen good, don't you want this? Don't you want other people to perceive Apple only has expensive products? If you go off-site and get a used phone, you still are part of the Apple in-group, and people think you/your parents have a great job.

It’s called price fixing: https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui...

> If you are a consumer buying a Veblen good, don't you want this? Don't you want other people to perceive Apple only has expensive products?

Oustanding use of sarcasm.

You use emotional manipulation to justify market manipulation.

Unless you were serious?

There are some truly terrifying hypercapitalists on hn

IANAL, but it seems relevant that Apple is also a retailer for refurbished Apple products.

Basically, this is one seller of X reaching out to another seller of X to fix prices for X. Definitely seems like a worthwhile case.

Purchasing a device is easily done through monthly instalments so I personally don't perceive expensive smartphones as a status signifier anymore. Mostly I wonder what people are doing that they need high-end powerful hardware like that.

It's not always a positive judgement on my part. Maybe I'm too judgemental.

Just to be clear, Veblen goods don't actually create a status signal. They make the customer feel like they increased in status.

You mentioned the financing, and yes, its why every teen and low income person has an iphone. It doesnt matter who buys it to Apple, its money to them all the same.

The important part is to keep the marketing consistent. "If you buy expensive products, your status will go up". Showing that it is affordable to get an iPhone is bad for business.

You seem very convinced that iPhones are Veblen goods. Do you have any evidence to support that claim?

Most parts of smartphone hardware have stopped meaningfully improving, but the cameras are still improving pretty rapidly year-over-year. If you value taking nice pictures with your smartphone it makes sense to upgrade regularly.