The US Department of Justice has announced a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly monopolizing the smartphone market, with 15 other state and district attorneys general, along with Washington DC, also filing suits in the District Court of New Jersey. The lawsuit accuses Apple of engaging in an “anticompetitive course of conduct,” including making it difficult for consumers to switch to other smartphone platforms, maintaining a closed-off system incompatible with apps and peripherals from other companies, and blocking third-party digital wallets. The lawsuit aims to prevent Apple from engaging in anti-competitive practices, such as controlling app distribution to undermine cross-platform technologies and using private APIs to undermine such technologies, as well as using contracts to maintain or extend a monopoly. US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that Apple has allegedly strengthened its monopoly not by improving its products but by degrading others, accusing the company of “unlawful, exclusionary behavior” to maintain its position. Garland warned that if these actions are not challenged, Apple will further strengthen its smartphone monopoly.On the other hand Apple denied all allegations of monopoly.
