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Washington:
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, saying it illegally maintains the iPhone’s monopoly by stifling competition and imposing excessive costs on consumers.
The lawsuit, also filed by 17 U.S. states, accuses the iPhone of making hundreds of billions of dollars by making it difficult for consumers to switch from Apple to cheaper smartphones and devices.
In the long-awaited case against Apple, the company founded by Steve Jobs has clashed with Washington after largely evading U.S. government scrutiny for nearly half a century.
At the center of the case is Apple’s App Store, which imposes strict and sometimes opaque conditions on companies and developers seeking access to the iPhone’s 136 million U.S. users.
According to the lawsuit, these rules and decisions are designed to force Apple users to stay in the Apple ecosystem and purchase the company’s expensive hardware, iPhones.
“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate antitrust laws,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“If unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly,” he added.
“Dangerous precedent”?
The far-reaching case singled out practices that allegedly made Apple richer but harmed consumer innovation and technological advancement.
Apple denied the accusations in a statement, saying they were “factually and legally false and we will vigorously defend them.”
The company added that if successful, the lawsuit would “set a dangerous precedent that would allow governments to take drastic measures in designing human technology.”
For example, the lawsuit accuses Apple of suppressing the creation of super apps, which are one-stop portals that can exist on iPhones and provide consumers with alternative ways to access services such as music, photos or movies.
The accusations also target Apple’s Wallet, the only app on the iPhone that allows tap-and-go payments in stores using the technology, forcing others to pay.
Messaging apps have also come under scrutiny, with prosecutors accusing Apple of making it difficult for Apple users to easily interact with Android phone users, forcing them to buy more expensive iPhones.
The nefarious acts also involved other services such as web browsers, entertainment and even car services, the complaint said.
In recent years, Apple has invested heavily in promoting services and hardware, looking for other ways to make money besides the iPhone. Launched in 2007, the iPhone changed the world of consumer technology.
But iPhone sales growth has been slowing in recent years, putting pressure on the company to find other sources of revenue.
The U.S. Department of Justice notes that Apple’s profits exceed those of any other company in the Fortune 500 and exceed the gross domestic product of more than 100 countries.
In 2023, Apple’s global sales will reach US$383 billion, and its net profit will reach US$97 billion.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
