It’s notable that many of these subsidized products also compete, directly or indirectly, with profitable products sold by competitors. At small companies, competitors are a second-order concern; making customers happy is what matters most. But as market share jells and network effects kick in, it can make sense for companies to subsidize things in part because they inflict pain on competitors. Google can devote less management attention to improving its free office software suite if search is being threatened, for example.
