Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on suspicion of using their power in the market to eliminate any competitive opportunity from smaller companies. The leaders of the four technological giants will now be heard by the North American Congress, to testify about the practices of their companies in the market.
All CEOs have previously presented their speeches in which they argue against the FTC's suspicions, stating that, despite the size and power of their companies, they still face strong competition in international markets.
Unlike Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, who have already testified at Congressional hearings, Jeff Bezos will be heard by US congressmen for the first time. I believe that Amazon should be scrutinized. We must scrutinize all major institutions, be they companies, government agencies and non-profit organizations, says the official.
In the statements he has planned, the CEO of Amazon starts by talking about his past and the lessons he learned in his youth and the company's formation process. The official argues that by creating its own market, Amazon opened the door to small and medium sellers, allowing them to reach a larger audience and increase their sales volume. The CEO of Amazon also says that his company has helped create more than 2.2 million jobs worldwide.
Although he is the largest online retailer in the United States, Jeff Bezos says that Amazon represents only 4% of the entire market in the country and 1% of the entire international market. Regarding North American competition, the official points out that Walmart, for example, is a company twice the size of Amazon, and also mentions new players, such as Shopify and Instacart.
Apple focuses on fierce smartphone market competition
J Tim Cook focuses on the fierce competition that exists in the smartphone market, mentioning rivals like Samsung, Huawei, Google or LG. In his statements, Apple's CEO argues that his company's products do not have a dominant market share in any of the countries where he does business.
Like Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook points out that the apple company's ecosystem has helped create multiple jobs, in all, more than 1.9 million in the United States.
The practices of the technological giant regarding the way it manages the App Store have been subject to scrutiny in Europe and the United States. Tim Cook defends himself against regulators' suspicions that the company is applying its rules inconsistently, particularly with regard to applications that are in direct competition with its products.
Google points to competition outside the world of search engines
It is recalled that in November 2019, the US Supreme Court decided to expand the Google antitrust investigation to assess whether the technological giant was respecting the competition laws in its search engine and in the products it develops for the Android platform.
Google is the dominant search engine in the United States, but Sundar Pichai argues in his statements that the tech giant faces competition from countless rivals and that its continued success is not guaranteed, as the competition landscape has changed significantly in recent years. five years.
Today, people have more ways to search for information and this is increasingly happening outside the context of search engines, underlines the CEO of Google and Alpabet, giving as an example the case of Alexa from Amazon, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat and Pinterest.
The official also states that users are looking for information about specific products through ecommerce platforms, whether through Amazon, eBay or Walmart.
The official also stresses that the Android operating system was designed to promote the existence of competition between companies, giving them the possibility to use Google products without any kind of prerequisite or fees.
Facebook underlines American values ββand takes a stand against China
J Mark Zuckerberg states that Facebook, seen by the CEO as a proudly American company, faces strong competition in international markets.
We believe in certain values ββof democracy, competition, inclusiveness, freedom of expression – on which the American economy was built, underlines the official, making a comparison with the Chinese market. China, for example, is building its own version of the Internet, centered on very different ideas, and is exporting that view to other countries.
The Facebook CEO also mentions the acquisitions made by the company over time, such as Instagram or WhatsApp, arguing that the services provided improved after the purchase.