Switching costsweight 15Photos, purchases, iMessage groups, and family plans compound the cost of leaving.
8
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Network effectsweight 15Device-to-device features and iMessage make each Apple user more valuable to the next.
7
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Scale & cost advantageweight 12Buys components at volumes no rival can match; designs its own silicon.
8
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Brand & pricing powerweight 12Holds premium pricing across a decade of "good enough" competitors.
10
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Cornered resourceweight 12Custom silicon, retail footprint, and the OS itself.
7
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Distribution controlweight 12The definitional case: owns the OS, the store, the browser, and the default search slot — and charges Google for the last one.
10
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Disruption resilienceweight 12A new form factor could reset the board; Apple is usually first to it.
7
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Independenceweight 10App Store economics are under regulatory pressure on three continents.