US: Government Attacks Apple for iPhone Monopoly Practices

The United States blames the iPhone for undermining its competitors. The US government on Thursday sued Apple for anti-competitive and monopolistic practices related to its signature smartphone, as well as restrictions imposed by a California group on app developers.

While Apple has been most criticized in recent years for forcing third-party companies to go through its app store and pay high fees on all transactions, this action is focused on other aspects of the iPhone ecosystem. justice.

“All of Apple’s decisions have created and strengthened defenses to protect its smartphone monopoly,” says the US government, which has joined forces with several state prosecutors to bring the case to federal civil courts in New Jersey. In doing so, Apple harmed “the users, developers, and others who helped make iPhone what it is today,” the subpoena states.

According to the Department of Justice, the Cupertino, California-based group prevented or interfered with the creation and offering of “streaming” services on the iPhone, as well as digital wallets that can be used across multiple platforms. It also discouraged the development of messaging services that can be used across multiple media and voluntarily limited the ability to use its connected watches with non-iPhone devices.

“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate competition laws,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“Dangerous precedent”

“This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that distinguish Apple products in a fiercely competitive market,” the company responded in a statement sent to AFP. If the procedure resulted in a decision binding on Apple, “it would set a dangerous precedent by allowing the government to have great influence over the development of consumer technologies,” the company said.

Apple has been accused for years of imposing harsh conditions on companies offering services for the iPhone, including preventing them from creating their own app store to directly monetize their content.

The European Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), which came into force in mid-March, requires the six biggest tech companies, including Apple, to open up their platforms to competition. In response to the text, Apple said it would soon allow its users in the European Union to download apps directly through websites, bypassing the App Store.

In the US, video game giant Epic Games sued Apple in 2020 to challenge any app publisher’s obligation to go through the App Store. In September 2021, a federal judge in Oakland, California, ruled that the ecosystem was not a monopoly, but ordered Apple to no longer prevent third-party companies from using its own payment system for purchases made through their apps.

The Apple brand has offered an alternative option to allow these external purchases, but on the condition that it continues to charge a fee of 12 to 27% on each transaction, compared to 30% on the App Store. On Microsoft Wednesday, Meta,

Apple, for its part, believes that it has “complied with the order” of the court. On the New York Stock Exchange, Apple shares lost 3.62% on Thursday around 16:15 French time.