My guess is that in Europe they could get an anti trust lawsuit. Comparing it with internet explorer on windows anti trust lawsuit from EU, Microsoft was forced to acknowledge and provide choice of competitor platforms that where compatible with the system (Firefox, Chrome, Opera,...).
Under the same logic, pebble is just an laternative platform compatible with the system (IOS + SeaNav).
But either way that is a behavior that is characteristic of Apple and doesn't surprise me at all.
Antitrust requires a monopoly position, which Apple doesn't have (but Microsoft did have). Apple are being dicks and should be smacked down for it in the market, but I doubt antitrust would stick.
It's a duopoly, but in terms of revenue/prestige it's a de-facto monopoly. The simple fact is that that Apple can bully because NO developer can afford to walk away from the Apple App store; and the App Store is simply too big for the market to self-regulate.
The anti-trust cases against Microsoft ultimately allowed Firefox, Opera, Chrome to flourish and eventually lead to the demise of IE's monopoly position.
Did it? Microsoft didn't get pwned in court over the fact that the OS came with a web browser, they got pwned in court because they were enforcing deals on OEMs that didn't allow them to include another browser.
I'd argue that Firefox, Chrome, and Opera did not flourish because of a court ruling, they did so because they were better in every sense than IE. Microsoft has never stopped anyone from downloading whatever browser they choose.
That's not accurate. Apple themselves have already lost a suit about anti-competitive behavior in a market in which they do not have a monopoly. [1]
I don't know about you, but I've bought hundreds of ebooks from the largest ebook retailer on Earth - and it's not Apple.
There is way more nuance to it all than "do they have a monopoly or not" and there are a range of anti-competitive practices. There are also different laws in different jurisdictions of the US and abroad. The EU has a much stricter definition.
Under the same logic, pebble is just an laternative platform compatible with the system (IOS + SeaNav).
But either way that is a behavior that is characteristic of Apple and doesn't surprise me at all.