US Justice Department sues Apple in antitrust case over iPhone

The US Department of Justice on Thursday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, alleging that the iPhone maker monopolised smartphone markets. 

The department alleged that Apple uses its market power to get more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants.

The department noted that the policies adopted by Apple were hurting consumers and smaller players that compete with some of Apple’s services.

"Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly," Reuters reported.

The civil lawsuit accused Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access from, developers.

With this, Apple joins a huge list of major tech companies sued by regulators in the US. Earlier, Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com were fined by different departments under the administrations of former President Donald Trump and present President Joe Biden.

Apple has had faced antitrust probes and orders in Europe, Japan and Korea, as well as lawsuits from corporate rivals such as Epic Games.

The antitrust suit argued that Apple blocks the growth of some apps, suppresses mobile cloud streaming services, excludes some messaging apps, and diminishes the functionality of non-Apple smartwatches.

Responding to the charges, Apple said: "We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it."