Steve Wozniak may be the cofounder of Apple, but the company isn't above criticism as he revealed he prefers if Apple broke up a long time ago.
According to the executive, he is in favor of dissolving the Big Tech's monopoly, referring to the major technology companies that exert incredible power and influence over the market. These companies consist of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Wozniak Wishes Apple Broke Up A Long Time Ago
In an interview with Bloomberg, Wozniak spoke out against the monopoly of Big Tech, saying that these corporations often prevent equal competition in and outside of their respective markets.
With the immense power of the Big Tech, the different companies are able to take advantage of their strong presence in one market to grow a similar presence in another market.
As an example, he pointed out that it is similar to a gas company with a monopoly in the market using a nozzle that would only work on new cars that it's planning to sell. This scenario occurs all the time in the technology landscape, according to Wozniak.
"I'm pretty much in favor of looking into splitting up companies," Wozniak said. "I wish Apple on its own had split up a long time ago and spun off independent divisions to faraway places and let them think independently, the way Hewlett Packard did when I worked there."
Ultimately, Wozniak wants the market to have more choices, instead of feeling trapped in a monopoly.
"I think that Big Tech has gotten too big, it's too powerful a force in our life and it's taking our choices away," he said, later adding that he is "always for the consumer over the producer."
'Apple Is The Best Of The Companies': Wozniak
While Wozniak has a different approach to competition than Apple, the executive was also quick to point out that the company is "the best" among the Big Tech when it comes to caring about consumers and profiting out of good products.
Of course, Business Insider noted that while Apple isn't currently embroiled in an investigation like Facebook and Amazon, it has received a number of anti-trust complaints in recent months.
Earlier in 2019, Spotify filed an official complaint in the EU, alleging that Apple puts its app competitors at a disadvantage by leveraging their power over them through the Apple Store.
Wozniak also discussed data privacy briefly, saying that he believes honesty is the pinnacle of good company practices. He added that if a consumer thinks he or she is getting a certain level of privacy, then he or she should have it, contrary to what Amazon's Alexa and Apple's own Siri has been doing.
