The U.S. Department of Justice and 15 states sue Apple for monopolizing smartphone market

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 15 states are suing Apple for alleged violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The DOJ claims that Apple has maintained a dominant position in the U.S. smartphone market through anticompetitive practices, not product merit. This lawsuit comes just after Apple was forced to implement more open policies in the EU thanks to the DMA.

The DOJ accuses Apple of consolidating power and blocking competition through various practices, including limiting customer options, increasing prices, reducing product quality, stifling innovation, and imposing restrictive rules on developers. These actions are said to harm both consumers and developers. Specific charges include Apple's interference with "super apps," blocking video game cloud-streaming services, and degrading messaging quality between iPhone and Android devices. Apple is also accused of limiting third-party smartwatch functionality with iPhones and obstructing the development of competing digital wallets with tap-to-pay features.

The DOJ also criticizes Apple's long-standing 30% commission on App Store purchases and in-app transactions, which it views as a tax on app sales. It also accuses Apple of hindering the development of new app categories that could disrupt its ecosystem. Other concerns involve Apple's iMessage platform, which allegedly restricts functionality when interacting with Android users (As we saw a few months ago in the case of Beeper Mini), and Apple's restrictions on third-party digital wallet developers.