Apple is being sued by the Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general for its alleged monopoly over the cellphone market with its iPhone products.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple purposefully stifled competition and degraded consumer experience in order to maintain its monopoly over iPhone devices.
“This case is about freeing smartphone markets from Apple’s anticompetitive and
exclusionary conduct and restoring competition to lower smartphone prices for consumers,
reducing fees for developers, and preserving innovation for the future,” the lawsuit, obtained by the Washington Post, read.
The lawsuit detailed Apple’s strategy to maintain its monopoly over the smartphone market.
“For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation,” it read. “At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone.”
“Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives,” it added.
Apple blasted the lawsuit, saying that the DOJ is attacking the company’s principles and, if successful, would hinder its ability to innovate.
“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. This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement. “If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect.”
“It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology,” it added. “We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it.”
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Apple’s stock plummeted amid the news.
The lawsuit reflects the complaints of Fortnite developer Epic Games, which sued Apple in 2020 for allegedly illegally tying games to its payments system, allowing the company to collect a massive commission on purchases.