The big 5 US tech companies- Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet (Google)- are now so powerful they literally dwarf their entire competition. There have been calls from antitrust groups to regulate the growth and power of these five. Each time there is some sort of competition emerging in the market, they end up acquiring them. Their dominance extends across internet search, web browsers, cloud hosting, desktop operating systems, mobile operating systems and online ad revenues. Business intelligence provided by Synergy Research puts Google domination of internet search for example at above 50% of the total and Microsoft’s for desktop OS at a similar percentage. This, plus the enormous data these five hoard, makes them a dangerous proposition. Across the Atlantic, in Europe they have already faced antitrust regulations. There are however, justifiable fears that too much of regulation could stifle business innovation. That is why in the US, such regulation has been lesser. Their power as platforms are also allowing several other businesses to flourish within a network, so they are being valued by startups.

Source:http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/will-regulating-big-tech-stifle-innovation/?utm_source=mitsloantwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bigtech

Uploaded Date:09 November 2018