According to neowin, the DOJ said Apple tried to maintain its lead in the US by violating antitrust laws rather than relying solely on its merits. Specifically, DOJ believes that Apple uses exclusionary, anti-competitive practices that harm consumers and developers. Apple has consolidated its power not by making its own products better but by making other products worse.
Apple's actions were determined to be of a monopolistic nature, causing harm to consumers
The DOJ believes that consumers are being harmed by Apple because they have less choice, higher prices and fees, lower quality smartphones, apps and accessories, and less innovation from Apple and its competitors. compete. Not only that, developers have been forced to follow rules that “isolate Apple from competition.”
Speaking about Apple's monopolistic practices, the DOJ said: “First, Apple imposes contractual restrictions and fees that limit the features and functionality that developers can provide to users Iphone. Second, Apple selectively restricts access to connection points between third-party apps and the iPhone's operating system, impairing the functionality of non-company apps and accessories. As a result, for nearly 15 years, Apple has collected taxes in the form of a 30% commission on the price of any app downloaded from the App Store as well as in-app purchases. Apple can request these fees from companies of all sizes.”
Apple has also been accused of preventing the emergence of new app categories, including cloud streaming apps and super apps, leading to a reduction in the credibility of the Apple ecosystem. The DOJ also brought up iMessage and argued that Apple intentionally made it difficult to chat with Android users by reducing functionality on its own messaging app and the functionality of third-party messaging apps.
Another area of concern is Apple Wallet. The DOJ said Apple encouraged its divisions to join Apple Wallet but then prohibited them from developing other payment products and services for iPhone users. They say Apple has blocked third-party developers from creating digital wallets that use tap-to-pay functionality, becoming a major drawback.
The DOJ believes that this type of monopolistic behavior harms the free and fair markets on which it believes the American economy depends. It also hurts manufacturers, workers and customers.
