The Justice Department along with 16 other state and district attorneys general, on Thursday, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against iPhone maker Apple, in Section 2 of the Sherman Act for monopolizing or attempting to monopolize smartphone making in the country.
Apple, founded by Steve Jobs, has been making its mark in every gadget introduced by the company. Apart from its gadgets, Apple’s service offerings including Apple Store, and Apple entertainment services have made it convenient for its users to not depend on alternatives available in the market but stick to the brand.
The government said the global smartphone manufacturer is maintaining a monopoly over smartphones by selectively imposing contractual restrictions on and withholding critical access points from developers.
Additionally, the American attorney also stated Apple disrupted the growth of applications with broad functionality and blocked the development of cloud-streaming apps and services, which hindered the growth of the competitor’s brand.
The California-based firm diminished the quality of cross-platform messaging to continuous iPhone purchases among its customer base and it has prevented third-party apps from offering tap-to-pay functionality constraining the creation of cross-platform third-party digital wallets, added the complaint file.
“We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Apple is exercising its monopoly power by increasing the cost of the products and services with fewer choices is also a concern of the Justice Department.
The Justice Department will vigorously enforce antitrust laws that protect consumers from higher prices and fewer choices, that is the Justice Department’s legal obligation and what the American people expect and deserve,” added Garland.
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