The United States Government, mainly during the Joe Biden administration, has made it clear that no technology company can abuse its power and position in the market to suppress competition. This position has caused companies such as Google or Microsoft, to name just a few, to be the subject of investigations to regulate their activity. Next on the list, according to The New York Times, it could be apple.
The aforementioned media assures that Apple is in the crosshairs of the United States Department of Justice due to its closed ecosystem of products and services. At the moment, the aforementioned body is investigating whether Apple hinders iMessage rivals, or if the Apple Watch offers better performance when syncing with an iPhone instead of an Android mobile.
Likewise, they have a magnifying glass on the payment functions of the iPhone, since it is possible that Apple is blocking its use to specific financial institutions.
It is worth mentioning that the research results are not yet ready. They must be evaluated in detail to determine whether, in fact, Apple is abusing its power to harm competition.
Of course, as part of the investigation, Apple representatives had to meet with the Department of Justice to address the matter. As a normal procedure, it is expected that there will be a meeting where the California company defends its practices. If the arguments presented do not convince the authorities, it could give rise to a federal antitrust lawsuit.
The United States Government has been following in Apple’s footsteps for a long time
It is worth mentioning that the US Government’s suspicions are not recent. In early 2023, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Department of Justice was filing an antitrust complaint against Apple for abusing its dominant position. It is clear, then, that there has been interest for some time in investigating the company’s practices.
Those from Cupertino are no strangers to this type of complaints. We must remember that they had an intense battle with Epic Games, caused by the commission for recurring payments from the App Store. The owners of Fortnite They refused to pay the 30% fee and accused Apple of being a monopoly for not allowing alternative payment methods.
In the end, those led by Tim Sweeney got the authorities to force Apple to allow third-party payment methods, thus allowing developers to avoid the commission. Nevertheless, The biggest victory was obtained by Apple, since the authorities determined that it is not a monopoly.
Obviously, facing accusations from a company is not the same as facing accusations from the United States Government itself. As mentioned before, in recent years they have been very strict regarding the activity of technology companies.
Without going any further, last December Google was fined $700 million for having a monopoly on the Play Store. amazonfor its part, began its antitrust trial in September 2023. They accuse it of abusing its market dominance to eradicate its competition.
“Our complaint exposes how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive practices to illegally maintain its monopoly,” the FTC document mentioned.
So that, Apple could be next Big Tech in going through the courts Americans to demonstrate, once again, that it is not a monopoly. We will have to pay attention to the coming months…