Uncle Sam is taking Apple to court, claiming they have a monopoly on the smartphone industry and that the interconnected nature of their products is a little too anti-competitive.
The Department of Justice has filed a federal lawsuit against Tim cooks's company Thursday, making many accusations against the tech giant… including that their entire business model is inherently gatekeeping and has a stranglehold on the industry.
In the documents, obtained by TMZ, the FBI says the ecosystem of all things Apple — including the iPhone, their Apple Watch and other apps and features connected to Apple's mainframe — has created a “moat” that unfairly excludes rival companies. their own customers.
The lawsuit states: “Apple spent years building a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company's astronomical valuation. At the same time, the company has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products and services threatened that dominance by making users less dependent on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone.”
The FBI adds… “Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or generating better revenue for developers, Apple would counter the competitive threats by imposing a series of shape-shifting rules and restrictions in the App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would.” Enabling Apple to demand higher costs, stifle innovation, provide a less secure or degraded user experience, and limit competitive alternatives. The company has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches and digital wallets, among many others.”
In addition to their products – which the FBI claims are made to work only within Apple's system – the lawsuit alleges that Apple has gone out of its way to shut down apps/programs that people have tried to use to disrupt communications on iPhones easier to make without -iPhone products. Essentially they claim that Apple has made it impossible to interact with Apple products/users if you are not also using an Apple product… and they say this is against federal law.
The lawsuit also states… “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to consolidate its smartphone monopoly… This anti-competitive behavior is intended to maintain Apple's monopoly position while generating as much revenue as possible to generate.”
TMZ Studios
Apple has a huge market capitalization – with a valuation of $2.68 trillion, one of the largest on the map.
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