U.S. DOJ Sues Apple Over its “Monopoly” on iPhone, the Device Apple Created
If you want to buy and use a smartphone, you never have to give Apple a dime and still participate in the vibrant economy of modern apps and services available today, from Uber to YouTube to Spotify. You can read ebooks, purchase digital movies, buy sleazy in-app game upgrades, and watch Netflix, all on a device not made by Apple.
How is this possible? You can use an Android phone on any of the same U.S. wireless carriers that power the iPhone. You can live your entire life participating in the modern tech world and never use an Apple product.
I’m no lawyer, but reading this statement from the actual lawsuit where the United States Department of Justice is suing Apple, you might get a different impression:
“Unless Apple’s anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct is stopped, it will likely extend and entrench its iPhone monopoly to other markets and parts of the economy.”
If Apple’s “monopoly” on the iPhone could affect the economy in some negative way, does that also apply to Google’s monopoly on YouTube, Microsoft’s monopoly on Office, and Amazon’s monopoly on Kindle?
Again, I’m not a lawyer, so I will limit further commentary and leave it to the experts. While some points in the DOJ’s suit seem valid, specifically on Cloud Gaming apps, much of it reads like the many of the hearings I’ve watched between lawmakers and tech CEOs. Namely, that there is a lack of understanding regarding the technology and landscape.
Other points from the lawsuit against Apple, as described by The Verge:
Disrupting “super apps” that encompass many different programs and could degrade “iOS stickiness” by making it easier for iPhone users to switch to competing devices
Blocking cloud-streaming apps for things like video games that would lower the need for more expensive hardware
Suppressing the quality of messaging between the iPhone and competing platforms like Android
Limiting the functionality of third-party smartwatches with its iPhones and making it harder for Apple Watch users to switch from the iPhone due to compatibility issues
Blocking third-party developers from creating competing digital wallets with tap-to-pay functionality for the iPhone
For further commentary, I would recommend Daring Fireball and Six Colors.
