The decision is as historic as it is worrying for Apple: the American Department of Justice is filing a complaint against the firm for illegal monopoly.
The information had been anticipated for several days: the American Government announced that it would take Apple to court and file a complaint against the firm. It is notably accused of an illegal monopoly concerning its most famous product:iPhone.
The US Department of Justice (commonly known as “DOJ”) joined forces with 16 state and district attorneys general to file its complaint. The latter, recorded in a document of just over 80 pages, reports a monopoly situation concerning the iPhone. In the document in question, it is stated in particular: “this affair aims to free the smartphone market from Apple’s uncompetitive conduct and to restore competition to lower smartphone prices. smartphones for consumers, reduce developer costs and preserve innovation for the future.”
The DOJ is not attacking Apple for no reason. In its press release, the Department indicates several problematic points initiated by Apple and which would dissuade consumers from considering an Android smartphone. Among these points, we find in particular:
- The blocking of video game streaming applications, making this type of service much more expensive for businesses and users.
- Do not encourage maintaining a messaging service of the same quality within the iPhone and Android smartphones, in particular by prohibiting the use of SMS and MMS on the iPhone, thus making iMessage much more interesting.
- The limitation of certain connected watches and their functions in the iOS environment and make it more difficult for Apple Watch users to switch to an Android smartphone.
- Blocking Apple from allowing developers to offer digital wallets that compete with the iPhone’s Tap-to-Pay functionality.
The DOJ’s complaint therefore seems to follow the same goals as the European Union’s DMA which hit Apple earlier this year. Since March 6 (and even earlier for certain points), the firm has been making crucial changes to the iPhone to comply with new European rules. This notably forced Apple to offer alternative stores to the App Store and the possibility of choosing your preferred browser when you first turn on your iPhone.
In an official statement sent to several media, Apple defended itself against this complaint. Fred Sainz, the company’s official spokesperson, said the lawsuit “threaten the identity and principles that distinguish Apple products in competitive markets. If successful, this complaint would threaten our ability to create the type of technology that people expect from Apple (…) We believe that this trial is wrong on both the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against it.”
This is not the first time that the DOJ has investigated and filed a complaint for a company’s monopoly since it had already operated against the giants Google and Microsoft a few years ago. However, we will have to wait a little to see if this legal action bears fruit, and on the consequences of the latter on Apple’s products and operations in the future.