Tile accused Apple of acting anti-competitively at a House antitrust hearing on Friday, while Sonos testified against Google, and PopSockets against Amazon
This Boulder field hearing extends the scrutiny that began with the House's July 2019 antitrust session, where executives from all four companies first faced criticism over market dominance — but the format has shifted: instead of the giants defending themselves, their dependent suppliers now testify against them. Tile, Sonos, and PopSockets each depend on a platform they accuse of competing against them on unfair terms.
The grievances aired here foreshadowed what came next: Tile returned to Congress over a year later to press the same case, warning ahead of its Senate testimony about unfair competition around AirTag and Apple's Find My network, and the app-store competition question Tile raised moved to its own Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing. The supplier-versus-platform framing proved durable across both chambers.
First-order effects
Tile, Sonos, and PopSockets gain a public record on Capitol Hill documenting their dependence on Apple, Google, and Amazon respectively — converting private commercial disputes into evidence for legislators weighing action.
Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google absorb bipartisan criticism in a single sitting, with each company's platform practices now attached to named, harmed counterparties rather than abstract dominance claims.
Second-order effects
Congressional appetite for follow-on hearings hardens: the same cast — Tile against Apple, smart-home disputes with Amazon and Google — reappears in Senate sessions through 2021, forcing the platforms into a recurring defensive posture.
Other platform-dependent hardware and accessory makers gain a template for airing grievances publicly, raising the reputational cost for Apple, Google, and Amazon of squeezing partners while competing with them.
Third-order effects
If the hearing-to-hearing pattern holds, supplier testimony becomes a standing input into potential antitrust legislation or regulatory design aimed at gatekeeper platforms — shifting enforcement pressure from case-by-case lawsuits toward structural rules.
The durable political framing is leverage itself: companies that control distribution channels (app stores, smart-home ecosystems, Find My-style networks) face scrutiny not just for size but for using that control against the businesses built on top of them.
The trend: Antitrust oversight of big tech platforms is evolving from hearings where the giants defend themselves into a sustained process where their own suppliers supply the evidence.
5 / Instead, these developers / companies are ultimately trying to decouple the App Store from Apple's platform. I discussed this in detail in the Above Avalon daily update (for @AboveAvalonPlus) published when Spotify declared war against Apple. https://www.aboveavalon.com/ ... …
2 / The highlighted section in this screenshot raised an eyebrow for me. Complaining about the App Store “tax” while at the same time not actually paying Apple anything for distributing your app / service is an interesting position to hold. https://www.cnbc.com/... pic.twitter.c…
Smaller rivals to Apple, Amazon, Facebook & Google challenge the idea of American tech as a competitive industry, making the case that the tech giants abuse their platform power and marshal their vast resources to copy products & undermine consumer choice https://www.washingtonpo…
“Please Stop Big Tech, Small Rivals Tell Lawmakers ... top executives of Sonos, PopSockets, Basecamp and Tile testified that the biggest technology companies hindered their businesses” @ceciliakang reports https://www.nytimes.com/...
4 / The focus on Apple's App Store revenue share level ends up being a red herring. The developers / companies most vocal about the App Store “tax” don't want to pay Apple anything beyond a nominal fee for handling payment transactions.
3 / Is the position here that if Apple's revenue share was lower, say 10%, a portion of the 85% of developers currently paying nothing to Apple would now be willing to go through the App Store for payment? That's a dubious argument.
1 / There has been much talk about Apple's “App Store tax” (aka Apple's App Store revenue share) being unfair and anticompetitive. Unfortunately, the nuance found with the topic is almost always glossed over.
Honored to be invited to testify in front of the House Antitrust Subcommittee on Big Tech's tightening monopoly grip on the internet. It's a public hearing at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder on Friday, Jan 10 at 10am. Bring your 🍿😄🤘 https://twitter.com/...
The Find My app cannot be deleted from iOS, but Tile can, says Daru. Find My's settings are enabled by one switch during installation, but Tile's are buried, and iOS 13 reminds users to turn it off. Tile is also not allowed to use the new UWB radios in the iPhone 11.
“Apple is acting as a gatekeeper to applications and technologies in a way that favors its own interests,” says Daru. “You might be the best soccer team, but you're playing against a team that owns the stadium, the ball, and the league, and can change the rules when it wants.”
Timestamp it: Google, Amazon, and/or Facebook will be the targets of antitrust lawsuits from the U.S. government irrespective of whom wins the 2020 election. https://www.reuters.com/...
@dhh Next, Kirsten Daru, vp and general counsel of Tile. “Last april reports came out that Apple would be coming out with a competing device... shortly thereafter they told us we wouldn't be in their stores anymore.”
@dhh Now @dhh is going in on Apple and the App Store. “Every application maker using the App Store lives in fear that their application is denied.... all it takes is being assigned the wrong clerk... then you'll be stuck in an appeals process that would make Kafka blush.”
@Patrick_Spence Next, @dhh to talk about Google. “Their monopoly on internet search is near total, and their bribes to companies like Apple ensures no competition will emerge.”
@Patrick_Spence Spence wants to focus on three trends: - Big tech cos using power in one market to crush other markets, using voice assistants and smart speakers as an example - Dominant companies exploiting partners to tilt playing field to their own products - Bigcos disregardi…
This will come to light on Friday in Boulder, the latest in a series of hearings convened by lawmakers on the House's top antitrust panel. It is sure to influence their probe into the state of fed competition laws — and perhaps inform open investigations as well https://twitter.c…
NEWS: PopSockets, Tile, Sonos and Basecamp will ask Congress to help stop Big Tech bullying at a hearing today in Boulder. I spoke with the execs — and the cmte's chairman — ahead of the hearing to learn more about their calls to rein in tech giants https://www.washingtonpost.com…
NEWS: PopSockets says Amazon cost them millions. Tile says Apple iOS changes gave its tool a disadvantage. Sonos and Basecamp say Google acts like a monopoly. All four will testify at a congressional hearing today in Boulder, Colo., and I spoke w/the execs https://www.washingtonp…
SCOOP: PopSockets says it lost millions due to row with Amazon. Tile is still warring with Apple after it unveiled competing tool. Basecamp and Sonos say Google is killing innovation. I spoke with each company ahead of their testimony to Congress https://www.washingtonpost.com/ .…