The United States has filed a case against the tech giant Apple for establishing its monopoly in the smartphone industry and, therefore, destroying competition. In the lawsuit filed, the Justice Department of the United States has accused the company of using the iPhone to limit competition and choices for consumers. After hearing the allegations and accusations and claiming them to be wrong, Apple planned to fight the case “vigorously.”
In the lawsuit complaint, which is filed in New Jersey’s Federal Court, the US has claimed that Apple has used “a series of shapeshifting rules” to “thwart innovation” and “throttle” the rising competitors in the market. The US also said in the statement that the California-based Apple company is making it nearly impossible for users to move to another operating system, along with preventing the competitors in the market from offering any competitive service on their device.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, while speaking against Apple, said that Apple “undermines apps, products, and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on the iPhone.”
The anticompetitive steps taken by the tech giant, according to the US, include limiting third party digital wallets, preventing streaming services from the mobile cloud, blocking different applications, and diminishing the functionality of smartwatches that are not made by the Apple company itself.
On Thursday, while giving his statement against Apple in a news conference, Mr. Garland said that this company had always “maintained its monopoly, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust laws.” While putting blame on Apple for “locking its customers in” and “locking its competitors out,” Mr. Garland said, “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law. Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem.”
While briefing a news channel on the possibility of the prosecutors succeeding in the trial, an official from the Justice Department of the United States said that if the US wins the case, Apple will have to make certain modifications to the structure of their company.
While defending his company, an Apple representative, Fred Sainz, said that the allegations made were “wrong on the facts and the law” and their company would “vigorously defend them against it. The lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple.”
In this case, a business law professor appointed by the University of Ohio, Anat Alon-Beck, said, “By doing that, Apple is hurting so many start-up businesses, stakeholders, customers, and, in my opinion, its shareholders.”
In the lawsuit regarding the streaming of music, Apple has already faced a massive fine of €1.8 billion by the European Union. Ms. Alon-Beck declared the new lawsuit to be “far more extensive” than the previous ones.
