United States: Apple to file lawsuit for abuse of dominant position

A federal judge on Monday, June 30, dismissed Apple's appeal against the U.S. Department of Justice, a decision that paves the way for the iPhone maker to sue for abuse of its dominant position in the United States.

The US government had sued the Cupertino, California-based group in March 2024 for monopolistic practices intended to maintain and strengthen the iPhone's position in the smartphone market.

Apple appealed in August, requesting that the entire proceedings be dismissed. It argued that the Justice Department had failed to prove that the company was in fact a monopoly and that it had made decisions designed to entrench its dominance.

The Californian company also argued that limiting itself to the United States was not relevant because, globally, phones equipped with the Android operating system (Samsung in particular) were significantly more numerous than iPhones.

But Judge Julien Xavier Neals, a federal judge in Newark (East), on the contrary, considered that the American government had provided sufficient evidence to characterize a monopoly and a monopolistic strategy. His decision removes the main obstacle to holding a trial, the date of which has not yet been set, but which is not expected to take place for several years.

Prosecutors from nineteen states, as well as the prosecutor in Washington, D.C., have joined the lawsuit. The prosecution accuses the technology company of hampering the development of applications and services that can be used on multiple platforms, beyond the Apple ecosystem.

The government says it is relying on internal documents showing that the company acted knowingly to exclude competition and innovations that could weaken its business model. "We believe this action is not justified by the law or the facts, and we will continue to strongly oppose it in court," an Apple spokesperson said.

After decades of calm, US authorities have launched a barrage of crackdowns on tech giants in recent years, challenging what they consider to be distortions of competition. After being declared a monopoly on online search in August 2024, Google is expected to receive its verdict in the coming weeks, as well as in another case involving advertising.

Meta, meanwhile, is being sued by the US competition authority, the FTC, for monopoly in the social media sector. Its seven-week trial concluded at the end of May, and the Menlo Park, California-based group expects a verdict in the coming months.