Apple Challenges DoJ’s Antitrust ‘Monopoly’ Lawsuit – Requests US Court to Dismiss the Case

• Apple moved a US court and requested it to dismiss a case filed by the DoJ and 15 other states.
• The court is expected to respond to Apple's letter within the next 7 days.
• In March 2024, a lawsuit was filed against Apple where it was accused of monopolizing the smartphone industry and intentionally hurting smaller companies.

On Tuesday (May 21), Apple announced that it has requested a U.S. judge to dismiss the case filed against it by the Justice Department (DoJ) and 15 other states in March 2024.

The infamous monopoly' lawsuit claimed that the iPhone maker monopolizes the smartphone market and intentionally hurts the growth of smaller rivals.

Addressing the accusations, Apple has already sent out a letter to the U.S. District Judge Julien X Neals, saying that the company's work ethic is far from being a monopolist-and that it also faces stiff competition from other companies.

The lawsuit also said that Apple drives up prices. To this, the company responded by saying that it does indeed have the ability to charge supra-competitive prices or restrict output in the alleged smartphone markets." However, it pressed upon the fact that this is due to its higher-quality products.

The court is expected to respond to Apple's letter within 7 days.

Another reason Apple mentioned as cause for dismissal of this lawsuit is that the whole case is built on a new antitrust liability" that no court has ever recognized. In short, the company is saying that this case is baseless.

What's the Monopoly' Lawsuit About?

In March this year, the DoJ accused Apple of a number of things, including charging too much and making the highest amount of profit when compared to its rivals, imposing various hidden fees on business partners, and loads more.

Here are some of the most grave accusations made against Apple and its business strategy:

• That Apple purposely makes it difficult to connect non-Apple smartwatches to Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. In a way, Apple forces users to buy Apple smartwatches.
• The company has also been accused of intentionally hurting music streaming apps such as Spotify. In fact, Apple faces a 500 million fine following a complaint by Spotify in 2019, accusing apple of restricting music companies from notifying Apple users about cheaper subscriptions outside the Apple App Store.
• Speaking of the Apple App Store, third-party developers are subjected to much stricter rules, which are also all constructed in a way that makes it difficult for them to leave the platform.
• Staying on the App Store isn't a good alternative, either, because then they're subjected to higher platform fees, inadequate resources, and poor security, which in turn affects their user experience. However, Apple cut App Store fees in January this year-a welcome change indeed.
• Apple complicates the process of using its tap-to-pay technology for other banks, forcing users to switch to Apple Pay. The company has allegedly made billions in the form of processing fees using this one simple trick.
• Apple has also been accused of fueling the Apple vs Android debate. For instance, Apple displays the messages sent by an Android in a green bubble. This clearly distinguishes between Android and iOS, and over time, it has been used by Apple to inculcate the fake social prestige of owning an Apple device over an Android.

It's worth noting that Apple's displeasure over these accusations isn't new. The company had clearly expressed its displeasure against the lawsuit as soon as it was filed.

Apple had said that this case challenges everything that makes Apple unique in a cutthroat market. It also said that if the authorities are successful in stifling Apple's way of doing things, it will forever alter the quality of service Apple can provide to its users.

Furthermore, the company also warned that this lawsuit will pave way for too much government control over people's design rights, which will ultimately stifle innovation in the future.

In March i.e. when the lawsuit first came to be, Apple had promised to go to trial if needed and defend against it with everything it has. It looks like the company is staying true to its words. Stay tuned for further updates-I'll be updating you when the US court issues a reply to Apple's request for dismissal.

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