DOJ Accuses Apple Of Running A ‘Smartphone Monopoly’
Apple – Source: Scott Olson / Getty
The Department of Justice is alleging that tech giant Apple is gating keeping the smartphone world.
Apple might be the world’s richest company, but as the saying goes, more money, more problems. The latest issue for Apple comes from the Department of Justice, alleging that the iPhone maker is running a monopoly on the smartphone business.
According to TMZ, the DOJ has filed a new lawsuit claiming that Apple is gatekeeping the entire industry and the DOJ wants answers
“For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone.” the lawsuit states.
The DOJ also alleges that the company is using its App Store as a “weapon” within the industry and against its competitors considering that if you subscribe to any services via the App Store the platform takes a cut.
“Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives,” the lawsuit continues per TMZ. “It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets, among many others.”
If the DOJ can prove Apple was acting with malicious intent, this could get ugly.
