In defence of Apple

[Commentary] Apple long ago shed the image of precocious upstart. Now that its technology sets the pace for consumer gadgets, habits of secrecy and control are prompting competitors, collaborators and government to start ejecting toys from prams. There is, however, an important difference between self-interested business decisions and anti-competitive abuse of power. An early lead in an emergent market for apps is no monopoly. The iPhone is not even the most popular smartphone, let alone dominant in mobile phones generally. Apple can and should do what it likes with its own products, leaving consumers to decide if they like the outcome - and take the risk, as happened to Apple in the 1990s, that they end up coalescing around someone else's products. Indeed, the presence of a competitive market is what prompted authorities to approve Google's $750m purchase of Admob in the first place. Furthermore, given the privacy debates prompted by Facebook and Google's use of data, a backlash seems likely when the public notices advertisers tracking their mobile habits. Controlling that process is an exercise in brand protection for a maker of highly personal and personalized hardware. Apple could be less secretive about its plans and intentions, but there is no need to make it play nice.