This chapter delves into the massive profits generated by Apple and Alphabet's app stores, prompting government scrutiny and interventions to regulate the app economy. Governments are imposing restrictions to diminish the dominance of these tech giants in the app market and promote competition among app stores.
Apple and Alphabet operate what is in effect a smartphone-app duopoly. Governments want to curb their power, but it is not clear whether more competition would change things. We ask why India’s election is so eye-wateringly expensive; the country’s size is not the only answer (08:59). And new approaches in the old fight against swarms of locusts (14:07).
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