EU official downplays iPod competition worries

Commission's director general for competition tells antitrust conference it's "worth asking whether competition is actually harmed."

The story "EU official downplays iPod competition worries" published March 27, 2007 at 1:08 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[jjesusfreak01]

You asked...

OK, lets ask if competition is harmed? iPods are wildly popular, but they can only use iTunes. Unless you assume that no iPod users would ever want to use anything else, thats harming competitors. Goes the same way the other direction. iTunes songs only work on iPods...think I have made my point.

Aside, if Apple licensed WMA (playforsure) from MS, I would buy an iPod in a heartbeat. I dont like the idea of being stuck to one music store, thats all.

[cameronjpu]

Wrong question

The question is not whether competitors are harmed, the question is whether competitION is harmed, and thus consumers.

The official was pointing out something very true - Apple is dominant in this market, but their competitors are mostly very well funded, huge multinationals who are fighting tooth and nail to gain ground. That's not the sign of a monopolized market, it's the sign of a very profitable market that is dominated at the moment, but is still in play.

[CAllenH]

You're not locked in

If you don't want to buy songs from iTunes, you still have your
choice of every CD retailer within driving distance (or internet
ordering distance, for that matter). iTMS is a convenient
alternative to CDs and it comes with more restrictions
(restrictions imposed on the service by the music companies).
It's one option, and not one you're required to take.

[Steve Bryan]

Trolling?

"iPods are wildly popular, but they can only use iTunes."

I wonder whether people who make inaccurate and misleading comments like this are actually confused or actively trolling. It is true that Apple does not support the DRM schemes of their competitors so music tracks using WMA (playforsure) are incompatible with iPods. But of course they are also incompatible with Microsoft's most recent offering, the Zune.

But that is mostly beside the point. The iPod is completely compatible with the largest source of music, your own collection of CD's. That is also what dominates the play lists of the vast majority of iPods. Also the iPod is compatible with any online music store that sells actual MP3 tracks (not some NEW, IMPROVED compression scheme that, oh yes, happens to have some 'built to last a lunchtime' DRM).

The iTMS is a convenient source for impulse purchases but there is no lock-in with the real market being audio CD's. Of course there really is what amounts to a lock-out for competitors' digital music players from iTMS. They can't directly load the FairPlay locked files. There is a workaround if you have iTunes on a Mac or PC. You can convert any compressed, locked file to its exact duplicate that is uncompressed and unlocked. You can load that uncompressed file onto your digital music player and lose absolutely no fidelity but it involves more hassle than most people will endure.