35 EXAMPLES OF OLIGOPOLY AND MONOPOLY (REAL) - DUDAS - 2025

In this article I will review some examples of monopoly and oligopoly; companies that have exclusivity in the production of goods or services in the world. Many of them have regional competitors, who give legal validity to their practices.

Monopoly and oligopoly companies have existed throughout the history of capitalism. They start out as small organizations but little by little they cover almost the entirety of their sector.

In both monopoly and oligopoly there are regulations to guarantee competition, but these practices present a difficulty to be proven by the plaintiffs.

The oligopoly is a market situation that occurs when the suppliers or providers of a product or service are reduced to a small number of participants.

In this context, all members of the sector are aware of the actions of their competitors. The oligopoly occurs when few companies share more than 70% of the market.

The entry of new companies is unlikely for economic or legal reasons. This situation can occur due to the characteristics of the product or service or the composition of the market itself.

The monopoly, on the other hand, occurs when a company or economic agent has the exclusive privilege over the production and commercialization of a certain type of product or service.

This may occur because the goods are homogeneous, due to the existence of impediments to the entry of new bidders or due to government intervention.

Oligopolistic situations can occur in different branches of the economy, while monopolistic situations are less frequent. This is because all countries try to avoid dominant or abusive situations.

Between these two formats there is an intermediate option called duopoly. It represents the cases in which all the goods or services of a productive segment are held by two companies, which compete with each other.

List of 35 companies with monopoly or oligopoly

1- Microsoft

It is one of the most controversial cases of monopoly and dominance on the planet. Its sector of production of goods and services is the hardware and software market, where it generated a revolution since its appearance.

Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft is responsible for the development of the Windows operating system and its add-ons. It has different legal disputes for monopoly in the European Union and the United States.

2- Fuels

Another sector similar to that of telecommunications is fuels, where there is a small group of companies that are dedicated to this activity in the world, whose names and brands may vary from country to country, although many have a global presence.

3- Coca-Cola

The soft drink company has other strong competitors in the world market, but it is under investigation for monopolistic practices in Mexico.

With a presence in more than 200 countries, in many of them it has been buying other brands in the sector. Currently, it has more than 400 different labels. In this way, it reduced the market in many territories to its interests, which generates a strong controversy.

4- Telecommunications companies

The telecommunications services sector, whether they are internet or telephony, has a small group of actors in every country on the planet.

In all cases, these are examples of legal monopolies or oligopolies, where the names of the companies vary according to the nation.

5- Public services

The companies that provide electricity, gas and water services in all countries have a dominant market position, be they oligopolistic or monopolistic. There are in all cases few providers due to the particularities of the sector.

In this specific case, the market situation is given by the complexity of the services and the need to have control over them. They are services of great importance to society.

6- Cable television

It is a situation similar to that of fuels, telecommunications and public services. There are a few providers of this service in each country, many of them operate worldwide with satellite systems. In this sector, the entire market remains in the hands of a few companies.

7- Bayer and Monsanto

The purchase operation that the German pharmaceutical company made to stay with the North American producer of transgenics is at the center of the controversy, as it could be a case of monopoly.

Bayer has a large share of the global drug and licensing market. With the Monsanto purchase, it could take a dominant position in the world's seeds and pesticides segment.

8- Google

The company of the most important search engine on the Internet is investigated for monopoly in the United States and Europe. Android phone makers are credited with setting abusive market conditions.

In addition, it is accused of giving more relevance in its search engine to the contents of its company, which was classified as unfair competition.

9- Pepsico

It maintains a dominant oligopolistic position with 22 brands of food products and large global distribution.

Depending on where it operates, it controls a greater or lesser market share, outstanding in any case.

10- Unilever

With more than 400 brands worldwide, this Dutch company is one of the main producers of food and hygiene goods and shares its position in the market with a few other companies.

There are 25 brands that represent 70% of the sales of Unilever, which has a presence in much of the globe with its products. Depending on the region, it controls a greater or lesser market share, which in all cases is significant.

11- Johnson & Johnson

Another case similar to that of Unilever, Pepsico and Mars. It controls 75 brands and occupies a privileged position in the food and hygiene products sector. It has a large global presence.

Also, depending on the region in which it operates, it controls more or less market.

12- Mars

With 100 brands under its orbit, this company shares the food consumer goods market with a few other companies on this list. Being an oligopoly, all the actors know the actions of their competitors and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Like Unilever and Pepsico, depending on the region it controls a greater or lesser market share, which is equally significant.

13- Procter & Gamble

Better known as P&G, its situation is similar to that of other companies mentioned above. It has a total of 300 different brands, with which it distributes its goods throughout the globe.

Like Unilever, Pepsico, J&J and Mars. Its power varies depending on the area where it operates, but it also has a relevant role in the market.

14- Kraft

Kraft has 150 brands, like other companies it controls the food and hygiene sector in an oligopolistic situation, in which all the players know the market actions of all the other competitors and may even have common strategies in some parts of the world.

Like the other companies named above, its power in the market varies according to place.

15- Nestle

With 31 brands and 146 products, Nestlé shares the oligopolistic global food market with the six companies mentioned above.

16- General Mills

Like Nestle, Pepsico, Kraft, P&G, Unilever, Mars and J&J, it has more than 100 brands and 600 products in a segment with little competition in the world.

17- Kellogg's

This company has more than 65 brands of different products with which it joins the global oligopoly of food companies that dominate the world's gondolas.

18- Luxottica

This Italian limited company is one of the world's largest eyewear and eyewear producers. Although many people do not know it, it is very likely that they have used your products.

Luxottica dominates 80% of the global optical market and its main brands include: Ray-Ban, Persol, Oakley, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, Donna Karan, Stella McCartney and Tory Burch.

19- Bimbo

It is the largest bakery company in the world, it has 169 factories around the globe and 100 brands, with which it controls a large part of the market.

It was investigated for monopolistic practices in the United States and Canada, and in many other countries there are regulations so that it does not take a dominant position in the sector.

Together with Fargo it controls almost 80% of the world market within its sector. This puts her in a real competitive situation.

20- Fargo

It is another bakery similar to Bimbo, even in some countries they are united, which complicates their legal situation. Together they dominate almost 80% of the global market.

21- Apple

It is a case similar to Microsoft, as it has a unique and exclusive product, but its monopoly accusation is given by its practices to make its phone, iPhone, present better features for its applications, to the detriment of other companies.

22- YKK

Perhaps no one knows, but almost everyone has made use of the products of this Japanese company at some time in their lives. It is dedicated to the production of closures or zippers.

It is one of the main producers of this type of goods in the world, with plants in 88 countries. Despite its large size, YKK remains a family business.

Although there are many other competitors, it is a case of oligopoly because this Japanese company has a large part of the market due to the quality and efficiency of its products.

23- AB InBev

It is another oligopolistic case of a company that gained notoriety due to the union with another large company.

When giants Anheuser-Busch and InBev teamed up to produce beer, they went on to dominate much of the world market with brands like Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Skol and Michelob Ultra, among others.

24- Wal Mart

This giant company in the supermarket sector is accused of monopolistic practices in the United States as its actions directly influence the market.

It jeopardizes retail businesses and the small-scale agricultural sector. Their economic effect is felt 32 kilometers away each time they set new prices.

25- PEMEX

It is the only oil company in Mexico. In the absence of competition, this state company has a monopoly position in the local extraction market.

26- Mondelez

It shares with companies such as Nestle, Pepsico, Kraft, P&G, Unilever, Mars and J&J, the oligopoly of food products. It has a great influence on the market for sweet, salty and candy cookies.

Its portfolio is made up of major global brands, many of which are in competition with each other.

27- Danone

With multiple brands and activities throughout most of the world, Danone has a dominant position in the dairy, water, infant nutrition and medical nutrition segment.

Its situation is oligopolistic in almost all the countries where it markets its goods, as it has great influence on market actions.

28- Vanderbilt

It is one of the first cases of monopoly in history. During the 19th century, this company, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt, was one of the most important in the shipping industry until it focused on trains.

Slowly, it was crushing its competitors until it became a monopoly company that linked the East and West coasts of the United States, passing through all the important urban centers of the country.

27- L'Oréal

Its position in the cosmetics market is always under suspicion due to a dominance situation. It influences 30% of the global market. Although it has competitors, its position is advantageous and can influence all business segments.

30- Standard Oil

The company founded by John Rockefeller in 1870 was one of the first dedicated to the oil refinery and another of those that gave rise to the idea of ​​monopoly.

Just 20 years after its creation, it controlled 88% of the US market. This monopoly situation did not last forever, the sector began to add new players who reduced their market share until reaching a situation of real competition.

31- Intel

It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of computer and processor integrated circuits. In some of its products, its market share reaches 70%.

Although Intel's position cannot be established as a monopoly, because there are competitors, it was accused by AMD for suspicious strategies to keep the entire business.

32- AMD

Called Advanced Micro Devices is a company of semiconductors, processors and other supplies for computers. It shares with Intel and NVIDIA an oligopolistic situation in the world market.

In the segment of graphics cards, one of the fastest growing assets in the electronic world, it shares almost a duopoly situation with NVIDIA.

33- NVIDIA

Another graphics chip company that has a dominant position within its market. Many of its products obtain up to 70% of the global market share.

34- Quanta

This Taiwanese manufacturer of computers is another example of a large oligopolistic company whose products invade the world with different brands. For this reason, his name, perhaps, is not so well known, but his assets are.

It is the largest manufacturer of notebooks or portable computers on the planet and its customers include Apple Inc., Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, 2 Alienware, Amazon.com, Casper, Cisco, Fujitsu, Gericom, Lenovo, LG, Maxdata, MPC, Research In Motion, Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba.

35- DuPont

Its name may not be so popularly known, but it is the world's leading manufacturer of processed chemicals. For example, nylon and lycra are formulas of this North American company.

With the patent of the two of the most used synthetic fibers in the world, especially in the textile sector, DuPont has a dominant position in the market, although at the moment it has not been proven that it exercises unfair competitive practices.

The company had numerous legal disputes for monopoly cases in different products throughout its more than 200 years of history, since its founding in 1802.