The U.S. Justice Department, alongside several states, has initiated an antitrust lawsuit against Apple over claims that the tech giant now has a monopoly over the smartphone market.
The lawsuit states that Apple has hindered competition through various tactics, including app store regulations, excessive fees, and maintaining dominance by leveraging its technology, which doesn’t match up competitively with products from other brands.
Apple previously took legal action when Google introduced the Android system but did not succeed in court. Nonetheless, the current lawsuit argues that Apple’s market dominance is detrimental to consumers.
For instance, the Justice Department pointed out that iPhone users can transmit crisp, high-resolution photos and videos to other iPhones, whereas the same content sent to an Android device appears grainy and takes longer to send. And despite Apple’s alterations to image transmission methods, the Justice Department says it’s still not enough.
In a statement, the department noted: “Apple undermines apps, products, and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on the iPhone. Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses, and merchants.”
In addition to this, several states are filing similar lawsuits. For example, in California, the company is being accused of violating Section Two of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits monopolization and attempted monopolization.
California Attorney General Ron Bonta said: “Apple’s anticompetitive conduct intentionally leaves consumers bearing the cost of sky-high smartphone prices at a time when smartphones are now essential to so much of our day-to-day lives.
California’s economy thrives on entrepreneurship, serving as a driving force behind its innovation and growth. Consumers, innovation, and the competitive process — not Apple alone — should decide what options consumers should have.”
Apple denied the allegations and said it would fight them in court. The company added: “At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” the company said in its statement. This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”
