The US follows the EU with a major antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The scope of the American indictment is also very far-reaching.

The US Department of Justice, along with sixteen US states, has filed a comprehensive antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The case follows an earlier condemnation of Apple by the European Union that resulted in a billion-dollar fine. However, Europe is targeting Apple and other tech giants with very targeted allegations, such as in the previous case of abusing their competitive position to promote their own music service. The US is taking a different approach and going all out with a comprehensive complaint.

The complaint alleges that Apple is abusing its entire ecosystem to maintain its monopoly. “Every step in Apple’s practices has strengthened the wall around the smartphone monopoly,” the government said, according to the New York Times. The practices would be directly responsible for higher prices and less innovation.

NFC and portable

A few examples should clarify the problem. For example, Apple actively shields the NFC chip in the iPhone so that only the Apple Wallet has access to it. Banks can join the Apple Wallet story, but will be prevented from developing a digital wallet themselves.

Apple also makes it more difficult for customers to switch to the competition. First, Apple is deliberately making it difficult for manufacturers to make their wearables compatible with the iPhone. When Apple customers then buy an Apple Watch, they are trapped. Finally, switching to Android also means that the Apple Watch becomes unusable. In both cases, artificial restrictions on Apple’s part are the cause. The US government therefore states that Apple is protecting its monopoly by preventing other companies from bringing certain solutions to the iPhone themselves.

Of course, Apple itself does not agree with this analysis. In response to such allegations, the company always sings the same song: The restrictions are supposedly necessary to ensure the security of the iPhone and the privacy of users. Anyone who wants to challenge Apple’s monopoly accuses the company of actually affecting Apple customers and depriving them of the functionality they want. Apple has argued for years that there is only one party in the world capable of ensuring the safety of Apple customers: Apple itself.

Difficult load

In the USA, organizations are allowed to give preferential treatment to their own solutions. Apple has already won antitrust cases in the USA. On the other hand, the New York Times points out that this case contains arguments reminiscent of those used in a case against Microsoft related to the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows. It was successful.

The legal battle will last for years. If the government wins, the consequences could be far-reaching. The US then has the power to force Apple to change its business model. In extreme cases, a forced split of the company is even possible.