Apple CEO Cook: U.S. government scrutiny is ‘fair,’ but we’re not a monopoly

Anna Driver, Susan Heavey, and Steve Orlofsky for Reuters:

Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook denied that the company is a monopoly as the U.S. government gears up for a potentially unprecedented probe into whether the iPhone maker and other technology giants are misusing their massive market power.
Cook, speaking in an interview with CBS News that aired on Tuesday, said Apple controlled a moderate share of the market but was not too big, and disagreed with calls from some U.S. politicians that the company be broken up.
“With size, I think scrutiny is fair. I think we should be scrutinized,” he said. But, he added, “I don’t think anybody reasonable is gonna come to the conclusion that Apple’s a monopoly.”
On Monday, sources told Reuters said U.S. authorities were preparing to launch what could be a wide-ranging probe with oversight divided between the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. U.S. officials must still decide whether to open formal investigations.

MacDailyNews Take: Again, as we wrote this morning, the real problems where too much power is concentrated and the potential for abuse of their market power is greatest is clearly Google and Facebook.
Apple has nothing resembling a monopoly in any market in which they compete (PCs, smartphones, tablets, streaming music, ebooks, mobile apps, etc. etc. etc.), they only have a virtual monopoly on quality, well-heeled customers, because they’re smart. They skim the cream off the top, not race to the bottom, of the barrel.