The lawsuit focuses on Apple’s control over the iPhone and alleges that the company limits the functionality of other products and services for iPhone users. According to the Ministry of Justice, this creates significant barriers to entry for competitors. “Many well-funded companies have tried and failed to compete in the smartphone market because of these barriers,” the lawsuit states. The Justice Department cites failures like the Amazon Fire phone (discontinued in 2014), HTC, LG, and Microsoft’s entire mobile business as evidence.
The case highlights the dominance of Samsung and Google as the only remaining “meaningful competitors” in the US high-end smartphone market. The Ministry of Justice emphasizes that even though Google controls the Android operating system used by many brands, it has difficulty maintaining competition due to the high barriers imposed by Apple.
The Justice Department accuses Apple of using similar tactics, drawing parallels to the landmark antitrust case filed against Microsoft in 1998. These tactics include “higher prices, fewer new products, and a worse user experience” for competing devices, according to the lawsuit.
Apple, unsurprisingly, denies these claims.
Source: Ferra
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