Home » Apple sued by the US for illegal monopoly over smartphones

Apple sued by the US for illegal monopoly over smartphones

Written By Duane Villanueva
Published • March 23rd, 2024
BusinessNewsSmartphones
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Apple is under fire from the U.S. government, alleging the company is wielding an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market.

This lawsuit against Apple was filed by the Department of Justice along with 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit suggests that Apple is cutting off developers and stifling competitors with punitive restrictions.

The parties in contrast to Apple’s operations are taking aim at the company’s most lucrative product, the iPhone.

Instead of competing with rivals by offering affordable services, federal and state enforcers claim Apple imposed a ‘series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions’ to ‘extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives’.

The iPhone is notably Apple’s most popular product, helping the Silicon Valley giant catapult their valuation to over USD 2 trillion with sales to billions of users.

Moreover, the lawsuit marks the federal government’s most aggressive attempt to date in opposing Apple’s dominance over the smartphone market.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that ‘Apple has consolidated its monopoly power by not making its own products better, but by making other products worse’.

Meanwhile, Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said that the lawsuit is ‘wrong on the facts and the law’, noting that the company ‘will vigorously defend against it’.

‘This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets’, said Sainz. ‘If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect’.

Tim Wu, Columbia Law School professor and former adviser for President Biden on technology and competition policy added by asking ‘How is it that Apple has been able to maintain these profit margins for so long given that Android phones are often cheaper?’.

Apple faces mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny on several fronts, which now includes ‘exploiting their grip’ over competitors and consumers by imposing restrictions and steep fees.

Apart from the iPhone monopoly allegations, the company is also put on notice for how they handle the App Store, iMessage, and even Apple Pay.

This is a developing story, and we’ll be sure to update you guys with further details on the lawsuit. What do you guys think? Do you think Apple’s products and services are too limiting and revolve too much around their ecosystem?