THE IDEA of the technology industry being dominated by monopolies is so widely held that it has monopolised much thinking, from investors' strategies to antitrust watchdogs' legal briefs. Yet, as we explain, it is getting harder to sustain (see Business section). After a long period of ossification, the industry is entering a dynamic phase. In America digital markets are shifting towards oligopolies, in which second and third firms compete vigorously against the incumbent. The big tech firms are wrestling over customers and data: witness the confrontation between Apple and Facebook over who controls iPhone users' privacy. And all across Asia digital conglomerates are battling it out. The industry's emerging structure is a far cry from the open, diffuse capitalism this newspaper supports. But an oligopoly of rivals is much better than a monopoly.
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