The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the tech company uses its control of the iPhone to limit consumer options and competitors through hindering growth of new apps and making other options seem less appealing. Apple denies the claims and says it will fight the lawsuit “vigorously.”
The lawsuit states a number of ways that Apple has sought to reduce competition, such as suppressing mobile cloud streaming services, blocking apps with broad functionality, diminishing the ability to use non-Apple smartwatches and limiting third-party digital wallets. The company “undermines apps, products and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on the iPhone… and lower costs for consumers and developers,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Overall, Garland said, Apple has maintained its monopoly by violating federal antitrust laws, not just by staying ahead of the competition with a better product. “Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem,” he added.
This is the third time since 2009 that the Justice Department has sued Apple, but it’s the first antitrust lawsuit during Joe Biden’s presidency. An Apple spokesperson, Fred Sainz, said that the lawsuit was “wrong on the facts and the law.”
