Open Markets Applauds Sen. Booker’s Call to Break Up Tech Monopolies, Condemns Amazon’s Misleading “Facts”
Washington, D.C. — Open Markets Institute applauds Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) for calling for the break-up of the big tech platforms, and for accurately characterizing them as “engines for discrimination, harassment, misinformation and extremism.”
Booker’s call builds on a series of strong anti-monopoly statements and policies by the Senator in recent years. Booker has previously stated that all Americans must address the “crisis of unchecked corporate consolidation… from our tech to our food systems… aided and abetted by lax federal competition policy.” He has also sponsored important legislation, especially in food and farming markets.
One of the tech monopolists, Amazon, swiftly responded to Senator Booker, claiming that “Retail is one of [the] least concentrated markets”. Furthermore, last week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attacked the idea of antitrust in an annual letter to shareholders claiming that Amazon’s growth has benefited its third-party merchants. Both of Amazon’s claims are misleading.
Amazon enjoys extensive dominance in many markets, according to a recent Bloomberg report, including:
- Many sectors of e-commerce and online retail:
80% of the books, music and video market
62% of toys & hobby
57% of consumer electronics
51% of office equipment and supplies
35% of online apparel
- 45% of the entire e-commerce industry, which garnered Amazon $524 billion in total sales
- 89% of the US e-books industry, which generated more $560 million in sales for Amazon
- 84% of E-Reader unit sales
- 67% of smart speaker sales
- 42% of cloud computing, according to Goldman Sachs
- In all, 89% of consumers are more likely to buy products online from Amazon than any other e-commerce site, according to Forbes.