The thin line between market dominance through innovation and monopoly

Change is brought about when potential is realized through the application of intellect and energy over a period of time. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are the tools that are used to forge and realize humanity’s full potentiality.

Central to all of this is industrial innovation that constantly invents and redefines man’s interaction with materials around us.

Innovation, undoubtedly, is a practice that is undertaken by the wise, brave, and creative. George Washington, Nikola Tesla, and Sir Charles Kao who pioneered the development and use of fiber optics in telecommunication are some of the innovators that realized their full potentiality.

On 3 May 2021, opening statements were heard in the case of Epic Games vs Apple. Epic Games, makers of the popular game Fortnite, are challenging what it calls "Apple’s stifling of innovation" through its unfair abuse of its market dominance. Epic Games argued, Apple has built a ‘walled garden’ through its iOS ecosystem, using anti-competitive tactics.

Apple’s conduct locks consumers in, preventing them from moving to other systems due to high switching costs. This restricts choice and monopolizes the market in two manners:

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