Apple is being accused by the DOJ of acting like a monopoly. This case has a lot of effects beyond just iOS and iPhones.
Apple is being closely watched by trade authorities more than ever. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, saying that the company was acting like a monopoly by keeping iPhone customers locked in and making it hard for rivals to make hardware and software. There have already been major antitrust cases against Apple outside of the U.S. This lawsuit is very broad and difficult, but we’ll talk about the DOJ’s case, the industry’s response, and all the ongoing effects on businesses and customers.
If the Apple antitrust case changes, we’ll make changes to this page. But for now, don’t worry—there won’t be much solved. Experts say that the case will not be solved for three to five years.
What The DOJ Says About Apple
You can read the DOJ’s case right here if you want to get right to the legal stuff. We regular people, on the other hand, fall into five groups that the complaint says Apple intentionally stifled competition in.
These are called “super” apps because they do a lot of different things simultaneously. Do you remember Elon Musk’s plans for X to have a “everything app”? The DOJ says Apple is stopping them from succeeding so people will use their iPhones more.
The DOJ says that the blue bubble, green bubble effect in messaging apps is one reason why iPhone users don’t switch to a different device. As one study showed, this effect is especially strong among some groups, such as teenagers, whose share of smartphones is 85%, the DOJ said in the lawsuit.
The DOJ lawsuit focuses on Apple’s alleged opposition to cloud-based gaming, saying that its actions are meant to stop people from playing games “without the need for users to purchase powerful, expensive hardware.”
Digital wallets: Apple only gets a 0.15% fee for all Apple Pay transactions, which is a small part of its total revenue. However, the DOJ says that the fact that Apple Pay is so common in its mobile ecosystem gives it “complete control” over NFC payments made by users, which hurts competitors.
Cross-platform smartwatch compatibility: This is a clear claim from the DOJ. The lawsuit says that because Apple Watches can’t work with non-iPhones, “it becomes more costly for that user to purchase a different kind of smartphone.”
The Reaction From Apple And The Rest Of The Industry
Thursday, Apple responded to the DOJ’s claims in a long list of ways, which you can read in full right here. Apple’s main point is that regulators are choosing measures that, in their opinion, make Apple’s strengths in the smartphone market look stronger than they really are. There would also be less of an advantage for Apple in the market if the behaviors that the DOJ says are monopolistic were regulated. This would hurt iPhone users.
“This lawsuit goes against who we are and the values that make Apple products stand out in markets that are very competitive.” Apple told TechCrunch in a statement, “If successful, it would make it harder for us to make the kind of technology people expect from Apple, where hardware, software, and services come together.”
There is less criticism of the DOJ’s case among app developers. For example, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) strongly supports the DOJ’s regulatory action. This is not a surprise since some of its members, such as Epic Games and Spotify, have already publicly disagreed with Apple over how it runs the App Store.
“The DOJ complaint lays out Apple’s long history of breaking the law by breaking their App Store rules and developer agreements to raise prices, charge developers ridiculously high fees, ruin user experiences, and stop competitors from operating,” CAF Executive Director Rick VanMeter said in a statement Thursday. It’s not just the DOJ; regulators all over the world have also seen how bad Apple’s bad behavior is and are trying to fix it.
What Does This Mean For People Who Use iPhones? What’s Next?
Not a lot in the short term. The lawsuit’s release and the back-and-forth between Apple and the DOJ that followed were a lot of work that will take years to finish. The DOJ sued Google for trade violations in 2020. The trial started last year, and the case might not be over for a few more years.
You shouldn’t think that the present will be like the past. The DOJ talks about how they successfully prosecuted Microsoft for antitrust violations in the 1990s. However, there are many differences between the two cases. The main one is that Microsoft’s market dominance was easier to define than Apple’s present situation.
Also Read: The Iphone From Apple is Not a Monopoly Like Windows Was
Read More About Apple’s Antitrust Claim Here:
- The DOJ is suing Apple over charges that it has a monopoly on the iPhone.
- DOJ says green bubbles are a problem in the trade case against Apple for the iPhone
- Why Apple’s case against unfair competition could be good for Epic Games
- The iPhone from Apple is not a monopoly like Windows was.
- Epic, Spotify, Deezer, Match Group, and other companies support the DOJ’s case against Apple.
- Apple is blamed by the DOJ for breaking the iMessage-on-Android answer, Beeper
- What the DOJ suit might mean for Apple Watch
- The DOJ says that Apple’s “complete control” over tap-to-pay transactions stops new ideas from coming up.
- Apple calls the DOJ case a waste of time that tries to turn the iPhone into an Android phone.
- The FDA case against Apple and the EU’s case are very similar in one important way: Paying with NFC and phones
- Apple already has a lot of trade issues, and the DOJ’s case against the company makes things worse.
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