Apple sued by US government over smartphone dominance

Justice Department announced a sweeping lawsuit over Apple monopolisation of smartphones

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Image: Shutterstock via Dennis

The US government sued Apple on Thursday, alleging the company illegally monopolised the smartphone market.

“Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference.

“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” he added.

The US Justice Department was joined in the complaint by 16 other US state and district attorneys general.

New Jersey’s attorney general Matt Platkin said at a press conference that Apple’s anticompetitive business practices were designed to “maximise their profits and profits for their shareholders while minimising the ability of consumers to shift to a competitor”.

“Rather than compete on an even playing field, Apple has stifled innovation in order to gain total control of the iPhone software eco-system. As a result, iPhone users become dependent on Apple and its products and find the process of switching phones exceedingly costly and complex,” he added.

The lawsuit alleges that Apple “uses its control over the iPhone to engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct”.

Apple said in a statement sent to Euronews Next that if successful the lawsuit, “would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple – where hardware, software, and services intersect,” warning that it would set a “dangerous precedent”.

“We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,” the tech giant added.

The lawsuit detailed specific ways in which Apple carried out anticompetitive conduct, including blocking innovative apps that would make it “easier for consumers to switch between competing smartphone platforms” and excluding cross-platform messaging apps.

They alleged the company also limited the functionality of third party smartwatches and limited third party apps from offering tap-to-pay.

The action continues a difficult month for Cupertino, which has already been hit with a €1.8 billion fine from the European Commission over “abusing its dominant position in the market” regarding music streaming.

In a statement about the fine earlier this month, Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president in charge of competition policy, said that for a decade “Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store”.

European regulations that came into effect this year also forced the company to change certain practices, including allowing European users to download apps outside the App Store.

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