Credit: Armand Valendez of Pexels
A federal judge on Monday denied Apple’s claim to dismiss a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the US government, and began to move forward by challenging Tech Giant’s allegedly smartphone monopoly.
District Judge Julian Neals of New Jersey held that the government had adequately demonstrated that Apple was carrying out anti-competitive actions to maintain its monopoly in the smartphone market and maintain its advantage.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2024 by the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division and 20 states, accusing Apple of illegally dominating the smartphone market through restrictions on app developers and device manufacturers that limit competition and innovation.
According to the complaints, Apple manages 65% of the broader US smartphone market and 70% of the “performance smartphone” market. This is a premium segment that excludes low-end devices.
Judge Neals found these market share figures combined with significant barriers to entry sufficient to show Apple’s exclusive power and a warrant to bring lawsuits to justice.
The judge has not yet set a trial date, but the case is expected to take years.
“We believe this lawsuit is wrong about facts and law and will continue to fight it hard in court,” an Apple spokesperson said in an email to AFP.
The government claims that Apple is maintaining this dominance by limiting five key technologies: “super apps,” cloud streaming apps, text messaging, smartwatches and digital wallets.
The ruling underscored internal Apple communications, which allegedly demonstrates intention to maintain exclusivity, including statements from executives about preventing users from switching to competing devices.
Apple faces potential relief from changes to business practices and orders calling for the sale of parts of the device and software empire, if the government is ultimately on trial.
The case is one of several major antitrust challenges Apple faces, and has been criticized for significantly reducing revenue from external apps on the device.
The lawsuit is one of five major cases launched by the first Trump administration and Joe Biden administrations to target Mehta and Amazon.
In two cases against Google, judges discovered that the search engine giant was found guilty of running an illegal monopoly, and the company faces forced sales of several businesses.
©2025 AFP
Quote: Apple will lose its bid to dismiss the US Antitrust Major Case (July 1, 2025), recovered on July 2, 2025 from https://techxplore.com/news/2025-07-Apple-dismiss-major-antiTrust-case.html on July 2, 2025.
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from fair transactions for private research or research purposes, there is no part that is reproduced without written permission. Content is provided with information only.
