Monday, May 13

Smartphone Monopoly: United States Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple

Edited by Akhil Thomas
Smartphone Monopoly: United States Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple (Photo by Sophia Stark on Unsplash)

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday. The Justice Department, joined by 16 other state and district attorneys general, alleges that the iPhone maker illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones by selectively imposing contractual restrictions on and withholding critical access points from developers.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court of New Jersey, is the Joe Biden-led administration’s first big antitrust action against the company. The Justice Department said in its statement that Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, and merchants.

The Justice Department alleges that the tech giant has monopoly power in the smartphone market, and it uses its control over the iPhone to engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct. The complaint alleges that Apple has disrupted the growth of apps with broad functionality. The 88-page complaint also says that Apple has made the quality of cross-platform messaging “worse, less innovative, and less secure” for users so that its customers have to keep buying iPhones.

“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” said Attorney General Merrick B Garland in the statement. The Attorney General also alleged that the company has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market by violating federal antitrust law. “No matter how powerful, no matter how prominent, no matter how popular — no company is above the law,” said Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General.

At the same time, Reuters reported that Apple has denied the allegations raised by the US government. Recently, the European Commission fined Apple €1.84 billion ($1.95 billion) over its App Store policies. Notably, the European Union (EU) regulators initiated a formal antitrust investigation into Apple in June 2020.