Apple vs the United States: Department of Justice sues over anti-competitive smartphone ‘chokehold’ by iPhone maker
The US Department of Justice is suing Apple over a smartphone monopoly that it deems is allowing Apple to “extract more money from consumers.”
The DOJ accuses Apple of operating with an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market that allows the company to lock down the best iPhones.
“Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses, and merchants, among others,” the lawsuit says.
Alongside 16 states, the DOJ says Apple is causing prices to increase for consumers by making them more reliant on their products and preventing competition by restricting developers.
In a statement, DOJ antitrust division chief, Jonathan Kanter, said, “For years, Apple responded to competitive threats by imposing a series of ‘Whac-A-Mole’ contractual rules and restrictions that have allowed Apple to extract higher prices from consumers, impose higher fees on developers and creators, and to throttle competitive alternatives from rival technologies,”
The government points to multiple different ways in which it sees Apple has maintained a monopoly on the smartphone industry in the U.S.:
- Blocking Cloud Streaming apps as this prevents users who want to use stremaing services to not need to buy expensive hardware.
- Preventing “super apps” which they claim “harms all smartphone users” by preventing the consumer from accessing “high quality experiences.”
- By keeping iMessage exclusive to the iPhone, Apple is preventing “users to switch phones without changing the way they communicate with friends, family, and others.” The DOJ also claims Apple “makes third-party messaging apps on the iPhone worse generally” by “prohibiting third-party apps from sending or receiving carrier-based messages.”
- Limiting the functionality of third-party smartwatches on iPhone and keeping Apple Watch exclusive to the iPhone makes it difficult for smartwatch users to switch away from Apple’s smartphone.
- ” Apple has denied users access to digital wallets that would have provided a wide variety of enhanced features and denied digital wallet developers—often banks—the opportunity to provide advanced digital payments services to their own customers.”
This story is developing, refresh for more information
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The US Department of Justice is suing Apple over a smartphone monopoly that it deems is allowing Apple to “extract more money from consumers.”
The DOJ accuses Apple of operating with an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market that allows the company to lock down the best iPhones.
“Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses, and merchants, among others,” the lawsuit says.
Alongside 16 states, the DOJ says Apple is causing prices to increase for consumers by making them more reliant on their products and preventing competition by restricting developers.
In a statement, DOJ antitrust division chief, Jonathan Kanter, said, “For years, Apple responded to competitive threats by imposing a series of ‘Whac-A-Mole’ contractual rules and restrictions that have allowed Apple to extract higher prices from consumers, impose higher fees on developers and creators, and to throttle competitive alternatives from rival technologies,”
The government points to multiple different ways in which it sees Apple has maintained a monopoly on the smartphone industry in the U.S.:
- Blocking Cloud Streaming apps as this prevents users who want to use stremaing services to not need to buy expensive hardware.
- Preventing “super apps” which they claim “harms all smartphone users” by preventing the consumer from accessing “high quality experiences.”
- By keeping iMessage exclusive to the iPhone, Apple is preventing “users to switch phones without changing the way they communicate with friends, family, and others.” The DOJ also claims Apple “makes third-party messaging apps on the iPhone worse generally” by “prohibiting third-party apps from sending or receiving carrier-based messages.”
- Limiting the functionality of third-party smartwatches on iPhone and keeping Apple Watch exclusive to the iPhone makes it difficult for smartwatch users to switch away from Apple’s smartphone.
- ” Apple has denied users access to digital wallets that would have provided a wide variety of enhanced features and denied digital wallet developers—often banks—the opportunity to provide advanced digital payments services to their own customers.”
This story is developing, refresh for more information
More from iMore
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