The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly increasing prices and establishing a monopoly in the smartphone market. Reuters reported that 15 states also participated in the legal action.
“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”
Apple’s has been charging customers for products where “Apple dictates nearly all of the details of how the device works and can be used,” per Reuters.
According to Reuters, the Department of Justice is currently urging Apple to provide additional options for developers to access the hardware that Apple designs.
“The Justice Department, which was also joined by the District of Columbia in the lawsuit, alleges that Apple uses its market power to get more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants,” according to Reuters.
According to the lawsuit, the DOJ said is focusing on “freeing smartphone markets from Apple’s anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct and restoring competition to lower smartphone prices for consumers, reducing fees for developers, and preserving innovation for the future.”
For example, the U.S. said Apple “made it more difficult for competing messaging apps and smartwatches to work smoothly on its phones. They also allege that Apple’s app store policies around streaming services for games have hurt competition,” according to Reuters.
Steve Jobs was famously quoted as saying “that it was ‘not fun to watch’ how easily consumers could switch from iPhones to Android phones and vowing to ‘force’ developers to use its payment systems in an effort to lock in both developers and consumers,” per Reuters.
Apple disagreed, saying, “This 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 — where hardware, software, and services intersect.”
