After European law, it’s Apple vs the US govt now! Apple might be one of the most popular smartphone companies in the world, but right now it is under the radar as the US government has filed a lawsuit against the tech-giant. The California-based company is being accused of monopolising the smartphone market and limiting competition. The lawsuit also raises concerns about Apple’s pricing.
As expected, Apple has refuted these claims and says that it will fight the claims. If things go down, this lawsuit could turn out to be the biggest challenge that Apple has had to deal with in recent times. Read along as I share the details about this landmark lawsuit.
The lawsuit has been filed at a federal court in New Jersey and has been backed by the attorneys general of 16 states. During the press conference to announce the suit, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal anti-trust law.”
Also read: Why the US is halting sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2?
Apple uses high pricing strategies to drive its sales and imply its authority in the market, which eventually leads to significant profits for the company. Further, Apple also levies charges on partners such as software developers and credit card companies. This increases the costs for the consumers and adds more to Apple’s pockets.”Customers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Secondly, the lawsuit also claims that Apple had made the process more tiresome for other “super apps” and streaming platforms as it was worried that the development of such apps will give people the reason to switch from iPhones.
Also read: Apple iPhone 16 renders reveal a big change in design
In addition to this, Apple makes it difficult to to pair smart watches from other brands with iPhones. It has even blocked banks and other financial firms from accessing its tap-to-pay technology. Along with this, the blue and green bubble ideology that Apple follows to distinguish and sort of demean other brands.
This is a big case, let’s see how things turn out.
