The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Apple in federal court in New Jersey for allegedly intentionally creating a monopoly within the smartphone industry. The Biden administration claims that the tech giant, through the launch of the iPhone, carried out "illegal and sustained conduct" to take precedence over its main competitors.
"Earlier today, the Department of Justice, joined by 15 states and the District of Columbia sued Apple in the U.S. District Count for the District of New Jersey for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act," explained Attorney General Merrick Garland at a press conference held Thursday. That rule makes it illegal to "monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations." Its aim guarantee free competition in any sector.
Specifically, Garland talked about the iPhone and how the company based in Cupertino, Calif., makes it difficult for companies that compete against it in the smartphone sector to develop their products, which affects consumers:
Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem. Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law.
Joe Biden has already warned on several occasions that he was not going to go easy on companies in this regard and that those whose sole objective is to concentrate an entire sector on its brand and minimize competitors would face consequences. For example, in last year's State of the Union address, the president said the following about how his administration would ensure free competition:
Let's pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage.
Apple monopolizes sales
In recent years, Apple has captured the vast majority of smartphone sales worldwide. In 2023, the seven best-selling models worldwide belonged to the brand co-founded by Steve Jobs, as reported by Counterpoint. The best-selling device last year was the iPhone 14, followed by the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the iPhone 14 Pro. Several of the models from one of its main competitors, Samsung, were far behind in terms of market share.
The fact that Apple manages to sell its models so effectively is no coincidence. The technology giant began its journey in the smartphone sector in 2007 with the iPhone. That launch represented a transformation of the cell phone, the next step for a market that was already beginning to evolve in leaps and bounds thanks to the development of the technological field. After the original iPhone, new versions of the device began to arrive, practically year after year, with their corresponding improvements in terms of hardware and software, achieving a differentiation that only made it gain a greater number of users with each new model it brought to the market.
