WASHINGTON — Apple Inc., one of the world's most valuable and influential companies, has illegally built a “moat around its smartphone monopoly” to maximize profits at the expense of consumers. The Justice Department alleged that the company had engaged in anticompetitive conduct. in a major antitrust lawsuit filed Thursday.
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the Justice Department alleges that the company has changed app development rules, iPhone features, and hardware customers use every day, including iMessage, Apple Wallet, and smartwatches, to prevent competition and improve business operations. He accused the government of using the government to expand its reach. By charging higher prices. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia joined the Department of Justice as plaintiffs in this case.
“Apple has maintained its monopoly power in the smartphone market not just by competing on merit, but by violating federal antitrust laws,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech at the Justice Department's headquarters. . He said, “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices just because a company breaks the law.”
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Apple antitrust lawsuit
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he will file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2024.Mandel Garland/AFP via Getty Images
Government lawyers alleged in an 88-page complaint that Apple violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Among them: “Apple would charge higher fees, stifle innovation, be less secure, provide a poorer user experience, and stifle competitive alternatives.”
Specifically, investigators say the tech giant, which generated nearly $400 billion in revenue last year, is eliminating smaller competitors by preventing the expansion of so-called “super apps” that offer identical services across devices. claims to have done so. Disrupt messaging formats and features between Apple and non-Apple devices. Exclusive use of the iPhone's tap-to-pay function to Apple Wallet.
Users have long complained of differences in sending messages between Apple and non-Apple products, including lower media quality, reduced editing capabilities, and even different colors in the messages themselves. Garland said these issues are examples of Apple degrading the user experience and tempting users to stay in its ecosystem.
“As any iPhone user who has seen a green text message or received a grainy, tiny video can attest, Apple's anti-competitive practices include iPhone users texting users of non-Apple products. “That includes making it more difficult to transmit,” he said. . “It does this by reducing the functionality of its own messaging apps and by reducing the functionality of third-party messaging apps.”
But Apple's alleged anticompetitive behavior went beyond that, according to investigators. It also attempts to curb the use of non-Apple smartwatches by restricting the ways a user can interact with them on his iPhone, as well as cloud streaming, location services, and web browsers on his iPhone. It is said that he used it to eliminate smaller rivals.
“Importantly, Apple's anti-competitive conduct not only restricts competition in the smartphone market, but also across industries affected by these restrictions, including financial services, fitness, gaming, social media, news media, entertainment, and more. “Influence,'' the complaint states. he claimed. “Unless Apple's anticompetitive and exclusionary practices are stopped, Apple will continue to extend and entrench its iPhone monopoly into other markets and parts of the economy.”
The government asked the court to order Apple to cease its allegedly anti-competitive activities and stop infringing on its cross-platform services and hardware. The plaintiffs argued that the court should take the necessary steps to “restore competitive conditions in the markets affected by Apple's illegal conduct.”
In response to the lawsuit, Apple said in a statement that the lawsuit “threats our company and the principles that make Apple products stand out in a fiercely competitive marketplace.”
“If successful, it would hinder our ability to develop the kind of technology people expect from Apple at the intersection of hardware, software, and services. It would also set a dangerous precedent, allowing governments to control people's It will have a significant impact on the design of technology,” the company said. “We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we intend to vigorously defend it.”
Apple is not the first tech giant to come under scrutiny from the Justice Department's antitrust division. In recent years, Google has faced two lawsuits alleging monopolistic business practices, one under the Trump administration and the other under President Biden.
Jo Ling Kent and Andres Triay contributed reporting.
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