Top 10 Companies You Probably Never Realized Had Monopolies
10.
Luxottica
Most of us have never heard of Luxottica, and yet they’re the biggest manufacturer
of glasses in the world.
Founded in 1961 in a small village in Northern Italy, by the ’80s Luxottica went international
and started buying every other eyewear company it could afford.
Their sunglasses are currently being sold through a number of different brands such
as Ray Ban, Killer Loop, Vogue, T3 and Persol.
They also manufacture eyewear for Chanel, Bulgari, Armani, Ungro, Anne Klein and Moschino,
among others.
Luxottica also controls the leading vision-care providers in the United States, such as Eye
Med and Vision Care, which produce over 130,000 frames per day.
Producing over 80% of eyewear worldwide, Luxottica made over $9.7 billion in 2013.
If you ever thought that some $30 glasses look very similar to a $350 pair, you were
probably right — they were most likely made on the same assembly line.
Whether you were shopping for a new pair of shades at Sears, Target, Pearle Vision, The
Sunglass Hut or Prada, you were actually buying from the same company, with only the illusion
of having a choice.
9.
Netflix
Netflix isn’t a monopoly yet, but they’re one in the making.
People tend to no longer order DVDs online and instead stream movies and TV shows directly
from the Internet.
It’s cheaper and lacks the bother of waiting for movies to arrive by mail or simply going
to the theater.
With over 50 million subscribers, Netflix is quickly becoming an Internet superpower.
They have competitors such as Hulu, Comcast, Vudu, iTunes and HBO’s streaming service,
but they don’t seem to be losing ground.
It’s quite possible that some of these companies will be bought by Netflix in the near future.
The biggest challenge Netflix is facing is to remain an independent company.
The Internet has been a huge leak of capital for movie studios, and they could eliminate
some piracy by streaming their movies directly through Netflix.
8.
Unilever
Unilever is a true behemoth when it comes to everyday consumer needs.
They make everything from food to home care products.
Chances are that every time you go grocery shopping you buy at least one item made by
Unilever.
Their business isn’t really in producing these goods, but rather in buying up other,
smaller companies that do.
Unilever currently owns over 400 name brands around the world, including Dove, Axe, Becel,
Lipton, Knorr, Hellman’s, Magnum, Sunsilk, Persil, Omo and many, many others.
Unilever operates in around 190 countries and had a net profit of $5.26 billion in 2013.
The problem with Unilever and competitors like Pepsico, Kraft, Nestle, Kellogg’s and
P&G is that they rule out innovation.
If it’s good enough for them, everyone else has to make due.
The only differences between their products is not quality or ingredients, but rather
the name, packaging and, of course, the price.
7.
YKK
You might be wearing a product made by YKK at this exact moment.
If you have no idea what we’re talking about, check your fly.
There’s a 50% chance it’s made by YKK, the world’s leading producers of zippers.
YKK produces over seven billion each year.
A Japanese company with 88 facilities spread around the globe, YKK makes everything from
the boxes in which their zippers are shipped in to their manufacturing equipment.
Founded in 1934 by Tadao Yoshida, YKK is still a family run business.
Zippers don’t make the clothes, but if they break they unmake the wearer.
There are a lot of other zipper manufacturers in the world, most based in China, which are
somewhat cheaper but much less reliable.
Almost all major clothing manufacturers use YKK because they’re reliable, giving them
market dominance where it matters.
6.
Monsanto
Corn is used everywhere.
Not just in food and sweets as high fructose corn syrup, but also in the production of
rubber tires, aspirin, antibiotics, baby powder, toothpaste, alcohol, milk cartons, paper products,
paint and varnish, textiles, shoe polish, batteries, porcelain and many other goods
around the house.
Monsanto is in the business of everything corn and corn related.
They don’t actually grow it — they genetically engineer it to withstand the deadly effects
of herbicides like Roundup (also made by Monsanto), and they produce “sterile seeds” that
can’t re-spawn next growing season.
The Convention on Biological Diversity has banned the use of these “Terminator” seeds,
but Monsanto has a patent put in place so, even if the kernels grow every spring, farmers
aren’t allowed to use them and have to buy the seeds year after year.
Because they own the best grains that are resistant to chemical herbicides, 80% of the
corn harvested each year in the United States is Monsanto engineered.
The company is also known for trying to pass a law allowing food companies that use GMOs
to label their products as “Natural” in order to “not frighten the citizens.”
Because that’s not scary in and of itself.
5.
Google
We don’t even remember what the Internet looked like before Google came onto the scene.
Thanks to their secret algorithm, they control 67% of the web search market.
Since its beginning, the company has grown and branched off into email, online maps,
GPS tracking systems, online data storage and mobile phones.
There are competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo, but they own just 18% and 11% of the market,
respectively.
Google makes most of its money from advertising and has always prided itself on not manipulating
search results.
But recently they’ve been accused of doing just that, promoting their own products and
“burying the competition’s.”
4.
Simmons Pet Food
There was a media debacle back in 2007 when pet food company Menu Foods was accused of
being responsible for thousands of dead cats and dogs across the United States.
They were importing antibiotics and chemicals from China and using them to make jerky treats
for pets, and that didn’t end well.
Fortunately for them, Menu Foods was then bought off by Simmons Food Inc.
The Simmons group encompasses the brands Strongheart, Fit&Active, Kitty, Healthy by Design and Twin
Pet.
Hopefully history doesn’t repeat itself, since the company is using the same Chinese
supplier as Menu Foods did.
3.
Facebook
Social Media is a market most of us have never considered ripe for a monopoly, but over 71%
of online adults use Facebook.
Twitter, Google+ and, heh, MySpace are no match for Facebook, which has around 900 million
unique monthly visitors compared to Twitter’s 310 million and Google+’s 120 million.
Facebook has an annual net income of about $ 1.5 billion and even bought Oculus Rift
for $2 billion.
Who knows what they’re planning to do with it?
2.
Microsoft
Microsoft may not be the powerhouse it once was, but it still enjoys a virtual monopoly
in some branches of the tech market.
In conjunction with Intel, Microsoft controls the personal computer market by owning over
75% of the market share.
And they’re nothing more than one of the many clients of manufacturing companies like
Quanta Computer and Foxconn, Taiwanese businesses with monopolies in their own right.
1.
AB InBev
Strange looking name isn’t it?
It came about after the merger of two huge beer brewing companies — Anheuser-Busch
and InBev.
Together they produce and distribute over 200 types of beer around the world, including
Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck’s, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Skol and Michelob Ultra.
Their net income was over $14.3 billion in 2013.
Keep that in mind the next time you’re at the bar — they may all taste different,
but your money
is going to the same place.