The US Justice Department and several states have jointly filed an anti-trust lawsuit. This lawsuit is against Apple. The company is accused of creating a monopoly in the smartphone market through illegal means. Antitrust cases are often filed against companies like Google, Apple and Meta.
All these companies have been accused of creating monopoly in their sector and destroying other small companies. In recent times, this step taken against Apple is quite big. This action is being taken by the American government against big tech companies.
What is the whole matter?
In the complaint, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, ‘Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market. For this, the company has not only kept itself ahead of other competitors, but has also violated many federal antitrust rules. Consumers should not pay more because a company is continuously violating the rules.
This antitrust case has been filed in the District Court of New Jersey. Even before this, such allegations have been made against Apple. About a year ago, critics had accused Apple of harming its competitors by changing the terms of the App Store , charging higher fees and in other ways.
People know Apple for making technology easy, but at what cost? For this, strict controlling is done and in some cases restrictions are also imposed. In some cases, it has been found that Apple provides better access and features to its products than the competition.
What is the allegation against the company?
The company has denied all the allegations against it and said that they will fight against it. However, in this case, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Apple’s action has had a wide-ranging impact. He said, ‘A monopoly like Apple affects the free and fair market on which our economy runs.’
‘They stifle innovation. They hurt producers and workers and increase prices for consumers. If they feel that no one can challenge them and they will be able to continue their monopoly in the smartphone market, then there is a law for all this.
How is the competition left behind?
It can be understood that Apple allows iPhone customers to send high quality photos and videos to other users quickly. But multimedia messages are sent slowly on Android users. Last year the company had talked about improving its quality. However, messages from Android users still appear in the green bubble that separates iPhone and Android users.
The company does the same with hardware also. Actually, the company gives access to some hardware parts to its products, but prevents the competition from accessing them. Because of this, users get a magical experience in the Apple ecosystem.