Market Share

The soft drink biz is only so big. It doesn't change that much, year after year (after year). Like...1.732 billion cases shipped and drunk by thirst Whos in Whoville all over the world. And there's a small tailwind behind the biz: the world is getting warmer, more populous, thirstier. So it grows like 3% a year...maybe.

Since growth is pretty blah, then it's a Game of Thrones vibe in who has more market share than everyone else. KO has something like 36.3% this year, and PEP has something like 32.1%, and then there are tons of tiny players who comprise the rest. Since the industry doesn't really grow, in order for an individual player in it to grow, they have to take share from the other players. (See: Zero Sum Game.) Hence the wars among players being so heated and strange.

The big secret: KO and PEP are very happy being a duopoly...so yes, they want to grow, but they don't want to be regulated. That would spoil the party for all.