The Big Data Relevant Market As a Tool for a Case by Case Analysis at the Digital Economy : Could the EU Decision at Facebook/WhatsApp Merger Have Been Different?

The definition of the relevant market is the beginning of any competitive analysis, to identify what product or service people are dealing with, which players are in this market, such as producers, distributors and even consumers, their interests, the total market size, the existence of barriers to entry and the possibility of market power and dominant position. Such relevant market definition model is applied to define any market, even in the digital economy, but considering its own characteristics for the appropriate analysis. The present paper aims to analyze (limited to the information/figures and data available for public consultation) the merger Facebook/WhatsApp (Case nº COMP/M.7217) already decided by the EU Commission, by applying the Big Data Relevant Market and its structure - Big Data capture, Big Data storage and Big Data analytics - to conclude if the EU decision could have been different